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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24805486">Drop a Stone 2020 version - Breaking the Timestreamer</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smoke_Bramandin/pseuds/Smoke_Bramandin'>Smoke_Bramandin</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Drop a Stone [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Legacy of Kain</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Abuse, Fantastic Racism, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Inspired by Real Events, Nazis, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Warfare, Torture, Triggers, What Have I Done, messed up shit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 11:54:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>37,370</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24805486</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smoke_Bramandin/pseuds/Smoke_Bramandin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A very messed-up story about why Moebius was so cooperative about restoring his Pillar and immediately dying.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Drop a Stone [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1605454</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This story is going to deal with a lot of uncomfortable topics, and I am open to accept correction when I got it destructively wrong.  Please write retorts if you feel the need, and I give full cooperation to using the comment section to store or advertise them.</p><p>One big thing is that Sarah is going to start self-identifying as autistic, but consider her an unreliable narrator.  She has a level of sociopathy that should be mutually-exclusive from autism.  It’s not that people with autism are lacking empathy, it’s that the miswiring of their empathy centers cause them to not pick up on social cues even if they feel for others more keenly.  CPTSD is something that seems to happen to a lot of autistic people, so that might also be a factor.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There were times when Archimedes hated being the Timestreamer. Actually, he was never really happy even when there wasn’t a crisis to avert or some other unpleasant business, but there were times when he simply loathed the job.</p><p>It was a week after his seventeenth birthday. Archimedes contemplated his reflection and decided that the patchy beginnings of a beard was worse than being clean-shaven, as far as making him seem mature. He would deal with it later. Today he had an important matter to discuss with his fellow Guardians.</p><p>Technically he should have called the full Circle, but what he had to say was hard enough without unnecessary voices arguing. It was time to discuss breaking his predecessor. Kain was required because he would have taken exception to being denied involvement. Hardegin was there for his unique perspective on Moebius. Since Sarah interfered with Archimedes’ powers, he asked Ozker to act as a proxy for her. He asked Finneas to be there partly because he was best at keeping Kain calm, partly because Sarah often asked him for advice about how to do her job.</p><p>“Thank you for waiting until I could be a part of this,” Archimedes said. “However, I’ve been giving it a lot of thought and I’m not happy about the safest course of action. Moebius will be hurt, but it would be better if I don’t directly hurt him. He’s much more likely to go quietly if he believes I’m like him.”</p><p>Kain frowned. “And what if he has fooled you?”</p><p>“Sarah, you’ve already told me why you refuse to use mind control, but you should be able to see if he’s putting up an act, won’t you?” Archimedes asked.</p><p>“I’ll do it under protest,” Ozker said. “Everyone has a right to privacy, and I can’t suddenly decide to go digging into a mind without permission just because it’s Moebius.”</p><p>“Arguably it is wrong, or at least against the rules you’ve made for yourself,” Archimedes said, “but if he figures out a way to cause mischief, a lot of people will get hurt. We can’t take the chance.”</p><p>“You acknowledged that it’s wrong, so let’s just drop the justification,” Ozker said. “Anyway the Mutt and Jeff routine should work even if Moebius does know Archimedes is good. You’ll just have to push harder.”</p><p>At the interested and confused looks, Ozker switched to his own accent. “Otherwise known as good cop bad cop. One person is threatening, the other kind. The kind person keeps talking to the target after the adversary leaves, offers apologies and protection. Of course the target will be more cooperative to the kind one.”</p><p>“And you say this will work even if Moebius is just acting?” Kain asked.</p><p>Ozker made a wavering motion with his talon and spoke again as Sarah. “It’s hard to keep up an act without being vulnerable to it. But at that point we can get him to grasp at anyone who can be convincingly sympathetic.”</p><p>“Why are we making this complicated?” Hardegin asked. “I’m sure that I’m not the only one who knows effective torture techniques.”</p><p>“I’d argue about the effective part,” Finneas said. “It rarely sticks. I imagine that he’d try something at the worst moment.”</p><p>“Believe me, I really would like to see him only be tortured, but it wouldn’t be enough. Just like how Sarah can’t guarantee mind control alone would be enough,” Archimedes said. “I can’t see around Sarah’s involvement, but she needs to be involved or it will fail. I trust that the loop is stable enough once we get to that point because breaking the loops tied to my existence has consequences that I’d have trouble explaining.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22617943/chapters/54777196">Sarah retrieved Moebius from the day that he was supposed to die, while Finneas retrieved Vorador in hopes that he could be revived.</a>
</p><p>Moebius frowned at the welcoming reception gathered in the chamber. “So you think that punishing me will be justice?”</p><p>Kain grabbed him by the nape of the neck and shoved him toward the door of the timestreaming chamber. “You have much to answer for. If you try to escape by killing yourself, we will revive you.”</p><p>Archimedes was there, and he gave no indication that he had met Moebius before. Likewise Moebius barely glanced at him. Sarah relayed Moebius’ thoughts to Archimedes, including that he had managed to fool his predecessor.</p><p>The next stop was one of the squid grottos. Kain, Hardegin, Archimedes, Keturah, and Chixiksi teleported as a group with Moebius directly into the chamber. Kain let the purification flow, and Moebius’ eyes widened with the terrible knowledge of what the Wheel of Fate actually was.</p><p>“This cannot be,” Moebius breathed.</p><p>Kain tightened his grip slightly. “Look well upon your former master.”</p><p>After a few minutes, Kain transported Moebius to a cage. It was of a decent size with brick walls and electric lighting in lieu of windows. There was a cot and plumbing, but no other decoration. The door was solid.</p><p>The next week was filled with injuries and visits by healers to treat them. This was accompanied by verbal abuse and silences in which to contemplate. It was not only Kain, but sometimes Hardegin, and one visit by Lorica. Occasionally Moebius would cry out from pain, but he remained belligerent.</p><p>Moebius had been surprised that his cell contained a source of running water, but there was no way to keep it from draining away and the supply would be cut off several hours before his torture sessions. He quickly figured out that wetting his clothes or blankets served only to annoy his tormentors.</p><p>At the end of the week, Archimedes came and let Moebius into another room attached to his cell. This one had a table and chairs, and there was a meal that consisted of more than gruel.</p><p>Archimedes indicated that Moebius should eat and said, “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to come to you before now. What they’re doing to you is simple retribution.”</p><p>Moebius looked longingly at the food, but instead turned to his successor. “You’re in danger. I felt a probe by your Mind Guardian and I’m not sure what she discovered.”</p><p>Archimedes shook his head. “Do not worry about Sarah.”</p><p>Moebius sat down with a dubious expression, but didn’t resist the food any longer. It was some sort of vegetable stew in beef broth, and he forced himself to pause so he could speak. “My memory is patchy, but I’m ashamed that I couldn’t figure out why I didn’t know who your Mind Guardian was sooner. It should have been obvious why I couldn’t see one.”</p><p>“The memory problems are because people who aren’t cursed can only hold a little more than a lifetime’s worth. The freed Hylden have a similar issue,” Archimedes said. “I did try to discourage Kain from letting her restore a Pillar, but he would not be swayed.”</p><p>“That monster in the cavern spoke to me. I know that I’m expected to restore our Pillar and then die. It wants me to find my reincarnation.” Moebius mopped his bowl with a bit of bread and then ate it.</p><p>“All that thing wants is chaos and death,” Archimedes said. “As for what I need you to do, I apologize for the lack of alternatives.”</p><p>“I couldn’t go into specifics, but things would have been much different if I had known what I was dealing with,” Moebius said. “I’m unhappy about dying, but at least my title is in good hands. Do you think you would be able to find my reincarnation? He would be about six months younger than yourself, born with the ability to see the monster, and his name is Frederick. I imagine that it’s not much to go on.”</p><p>“I know the squid is a liar, but did it give you a reason?” Archimedes asked.</p><p>Moebius shook his head. “I don’t know what it expects.”</p><p>“I know of someone that fits that description. I’m afraid that arranging a meeting would be problematic,” Archimedes said. “He is brilliant, and was unintentionally put in the perfect place to help make the Hylden sympathetic to the humans.”</p><p>Moebius sneered. “Those vile creatures are no better than vampires.”</p><p>“They are dangerous no matter where they are,” Archimedes said. “Fred seems happy, at least, and remains so in most of the probabilities I can see.”</p><p>“That is a small comfort,” Moebius said.</p><p>“They’ll get suspicious if I stay here for too long, but I’ll come back when I can. If you have a reasonable request, just speak and the guards will relay it to me,” Archimedes said. “I’ll also try to get them to stop hurting you.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Archimedes came back the next day. “I think I’ve gotten you a respite from the vampires, but you have a better chance of it lasting if you remain passive.”</p><p>“That’s amazing,” Moebius said. “How did you manage it?”</p><p>Archimedes shook his head. “Sorry, but you will get probed again. Sarah is my ally, but it’s best if we keep certain details away from her. Suffice it to say that I know the weak points of my fellow Guardians.”</p><p>“You’re not worried about her probing you?” Moebius asked. “She’s the first Mind Guardian I’ve encountered that hasn’t turned away in horror at how unpleasant I am.”</p><p>“She does find our minds confusing. I know how to hide things where she can’t find them, and she’d need to have a reason to even look,” Archimedes said. “I’m afraid that I can’t just tell you how to hide things from her. Part of it is that I don’t have the language to describe the important details.”</p><p>Moebius frowned. “I don’t envy how difficult she must make things for you.”</p><p>“At least she doesn’t cause notable damage when she’s in this frame, even if the unpredictability gets annoying,” Archimedes said.</p><p>“Are you aware of what she did when she returned the Reaver to its course in History? That event never stabilized enough for me to examine it, but perhaps it’s clear enough now,” Moebius said. “She tried to play the game with me, but her efforts were laughable.”</p><p>“Let me check. I’ve had practice at seeing her in the past.” Archimedes’ eyes began to glow as he drew power, then he winced as they returned to normal. “There was a clue that she’s not traveling back for at least a century. I would love it if you could share what happened.”</p><p><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22617943/chapters/54054268">Moebius told the story</a>, or at least the parts where he wasn’t incapacitated. He also described Reaver Paradoxes and how that would pose an additional barrier to seeing the event, though not as much as if it was in his future.</p><p>Archimedes frowned. “I’m sorry, there’s no guarantee that I’m the one who sent her back. I would have asked her not to do any of that.”</p><p>Moebius shook his head. “I appreciate the sentiment, but a snapped neck isn’t as inconvenient as having to repair the damage it would cause.”</p><p>“She’s not like that now,” Archimedes said.</p><p>“Is she still clinging to her humanity? According to her talons she’s held on for far longer than I’ve ever seen,” Moebius said. “A more pressing concern for you is that she’s not a convincing liar.”</p><p>“I’m aware of her limitations and I’m adept at working around them,” Archimedes said.</p><p>Moebius shook his head. “Archimedes, I’m worried that you’re being overconfident. I urge you to neutralize her. I’ll even forgive you for the consequences if you decide to remove her completely.”</p><p>“I’ll have to think about that,” Archimedes said. “It’s best if I leave for now.”</p><p> </p><p>Once clear of the prison, Archimedes whispered to Finneas, “I need help and I don’t want to ask Sarah. Please call Kain as well.”</p><p>When Archimedes entered Finneas’ parlor, Kain was already seated in the corner. “To what do I owe this rare desire to see me?”</p><p>“Manners,” Finneas said to Kain before turning to Archimedes. “I’m afraid the only thing I can offer you to drink is water.”</p><p>Archimedes nodded his thanks as he accepted the glass, but his hands shook and he dropped it. “I’m sorry.”</p><p>“Pay it no mind,” Finneas said. “I do have brandy for medicinal purposes.”</p><p>“I just need a moment.” Archimedes concentrated on his breathing until he calmed. “I don’t think I can handle this deception. As Sarah said, it’s hard to keep up an act without being vulnerable to it. Moebius told me that Sarah snaps his neck, and then he almost had me convinced that Sarah was a danger to me.”</p><p>Kain frowned. “Start from the beginning.”</p><p>Archimedes explained everything that happened between himself and Moebius in the prison.</p><p>“Did you forget that Sarah is a vampire?” Kain asked. “Her current pacifism is revolting, but she is capable of being cruel when it suits her. She even laughed as Raziel told a similar story about that event. A detail that’s missing is that Sarah admitted to Raziel that it was a bluff. I doubt that she would lie to him.”</p><p>Archimedes held his head in his hands. “I still don’t think I can do this, not without help. Please call Sarah, I think I’m ready for her to know that I considered harming her.”</p><p>Sarah arrived and listened to Archimedes tell the story again. “I’m sorry, it felt like bad luck to say anything, but I was afraid this might happen. We need to figure out something else.”</p><p>Archimedes frowned. “Can’t you use your powers to help?”</p><p>Sarah sighed. “There’s an expression from my world. Put your own oxygen mask on first. It means that sometimes you have to help yourself to make yourself capable of helping others.”</p><p>“If this fails, he might not be able to help anyone,” Kain said.</p><p>“You suddenly like this one?” Sarah turned to Archimedes. “How about we talk through some of the options that don’t lead to you cracking before Moebius does. I’d rather not have to try holding you together with duct tape and it sounds like you already need therapy.”</p><p>“There was always a chance that I would make a mistake and he’d win the game,” Archimedes said. “If he finds out, it would fall to you and I can’t provide guidance.”</p><p>“You know how he thinks. The biggest difference is that you’re a good person.” Sarah smirked at Kain. “And we have not-good people who can fill in the gaps.”</p><p>“I’d still rather go with the original plan if it can be salvaged,” Archimedes said.</p><p>“Well if he can feel me poking around, and I do want to check if he’s still oblivious, perhaps I could weave a false memory to make him believe that he’s the one putting you in danger,” Sarah said. “It would be an excuse to not visit him as much and hopefully make him more anxious to get it over with.”</p><p>Sarah constructed a memory where Archimedes argued with the Circle against torturing Moebius. He pointed to Keturah and asked if worshipping the Squid was a crime, and then to Chixiksi to ask about attempted genocide. The false image of Kain scowled menacingly.</p><p>Kain said. “You’re disturbingly good at this.”</p><p>“I also know ten ways to make a murder look like a suicide,” Sarah said. “Sometimes a person knows how to do something that they never expect to do.”</p><p>“Vorador ripped that vest when we revived him,” Finneas said.</p><p>“I know, but I doubt Moebius does,” Sarah said.</p><p>Archimedes gasped. “You’re seriously going to make yourself believe in it?”</p><p>Sarah nodded. “You can easily show me where the lose thread is later, no harm done.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sarah implanted the memory in Moebius, but she had requested that her own false memory not be unraveled until it was safe to do so.</p><p>“Sarah, I want your help with how crazy I feel, but I’m not sure if I can trust you,” Archimedes said.  “I was seriously considering hurting you, and you have every right to do something to me because of it.”</p><p>“I can’t promise that I will never harm you, but you will have fair warning if it is to be intentional,” Sarah said.  “You’re under a lot of stress, and instead of acting on your thoughts you did the right thing.  I’m not going to hold it against you.”</p><p>Archimedes sighed.  “I don’t deserve someone like you.  Please do what you can.”</p><p>Sarah entered his mind and sighed.  “What a mess.  The part where you’re hating yourself because you hate Moebius has gotten bigger.  I hope that goes away when he does.  The façade you’re wearing is starting to blur into who you actually are, so this does have to be ended quickly.”  Sarah looked around some more and said, “Oh no.”</p><p>Archimedes was paying close attention to the echoes of how Sarah perceived his mind.  Training with her powers had helped him in many ways, including the ability to guide her through parts of his mind that she was incapable of understanding.  What she was looking at was so devastatingly clear that it should have been the first thing she noticed.</p><p>Archimedes said, “I don’t suppose you could just rip that out and erase any memory of it existing?”</p><p>“It would leave a scar,” Sarah said.</p><p>“I don’t care,” Archimedes said.  “I’ve only had two people in my life that actually trusted me, and I had to hurt them.  And now… but it’s…”</p><p>“Moebius trusts you.  It doesn’t matter if it’s twisted up in his own narcissism or not.”  Sarah bit her lip.  “It’s not fair that I never trusted you.  There was no reason for it.  You’re the most noble and bravest person I know.”</p><p>“It’s better that you don’t trust me.  I don’t know when or how it will happen, just that if you did trust me, I would break it,” Archimedes said.  “It’s bad enough that you don’t complain when I use you, or accept that I do bad things for the greater good, or forgive me when I haven’t done enough.  I don’t want your trust.”</p><p>Sarah spent a long time in thought before speaking.  “That’s not good, but I’m not sure what can be done.”</p><p>Archimedes shook his head.  “I just have to accept it.”</p><p>“Maybe if we can figure out how to make a dog live as long as you,” Sarah said.  “They trust unconditionally unless you start beating it with a stick.”</p><p>Archimedes laughed as he surfaced from the mindscape.  “I can’t believe you suggested solving my problems with a puppy.”</p><p> </p><p>It was the next morning and Archimedes was both glad for the excuse to not visit his predecessor and irritated that he couldn’t just get it over with.  He was on the roof of his apartment in Aschedorf, laying in the sun and trying not to think about his problems.  A shadow passed overhead, and Archimedes sat up as Catullus landed.</p><p>Catullus said, “I heard you got someone else to trust you.”</p><p>Archimedes frowned.  “Just my evil predecessor.  Don’t worry, he doesn’t have much longer to live.”</p><p>“I was told to stay away unless I was ready to forgive you,” Catullus said.  “I realized that if things had gone the other way, if I was like the others, I would have happily set myself on fire to keep everyone else warm.”</p><p>Archimedes stood.  “What are you saying?”</p><p>Catullus simply grabbed his brother and hugged him.  Archimedes returned the hug and started sobbing.</p><p>When they separated, Catullus said, “I didn’t realize it meant that much to you.”</p><p>“It means everything.”  Archimedes tried to wipe away his tears, but they were still coming.  “Making a choice where the consequence should have been losing you forever… I think it was the hardest thing I ever did.”</p><p>Catullus frowned in thought.  “Do you have to make choices like that often?”  At Archimedes’ nod, Catullus thought again before continuing.  “And how often are they hard?”</p><p>Archimedes sighed.  “Not all of the time, but often enough that I sometimes hate it.”</p><p>“You saved me from carponus e donadi,” Catullus said, “but you embrace it?”</p><p>“It’s keeping me alive,” Archimedes said.  “I think once I’ve dealt with my predecessor, I’ll be able to… not exactly rest, but be able to passively watch for the next problem for a while.”</p><p> </p><p>Archimedes felt better after talking with his brother, especially after the conversation drifted into things that normal people without the burden of the world would talk about.  He decided that he could continue to work on Moebius.</p><p>Moebius stood up from the table as Archimedes entered the cell.  “Archimedes, your control of the situation is slipping.  I don’t think I can be of much help from in here.”</p><p>“All I really need from you is one thing.  I do have everything well in hand,” Archimedes said.</p><p>Moebius shook his head.  “Your Mind Guardian let something slip the last time she probed me.  She and Kain both see what you’re doing.  I can’t just leave you like this.”</p><p>Archimedes resisted the urge to say a particularly nasty Hylden phrase about the Pillars.  It was hard to be blasphemous with no gods, and he did not want to draw the ire of Lady Fortuna in case she actually was more than superstition.  What he said next was something that he did not want to resist.</p><p>“That was something that Sarah made up to try and speed things along.  I’m manipulating you and everyone knows about it.  What has everyone worried is how I’m managing to fool the Great Manipulator, but I don’t enjoy games and I’m tired of playing this one.  I’ve exhausted myself trying to convince you that I don’t need your help because I’m not sure that you would have left me alone if I admitted that I simply didn’t want it.” Archimedes paused.  “Is that the look you enjoy seeing on people?  You make me sick.”</p><p>Before Moebius could recover from the shock, Archimedes had left.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was several hours after Archimedes’ outburst at Moebius.  Sarah casually strolled into Moebius’ cell.</p><p>“What have you done to him?” Moebius demanded.</p><p>“What do you mean?” Sarah asked.</p><p>“Don’t play dumb,” Moebius spat.</p><p>“I’m really going to need you to explain which subjective reality we’re working in,” Sarah said.  “I don’t play multi-board speed chess and the machinations have gotten a little beyond my grasp.”</p><p>“You found out that Archimedes wasn’t the person he was pretending to be, so you did something to turn him into that.  You know how to use the timestreaming chambers?”  At Sarah’s nod, Moebius continued.  “If you are his ally and the others required you to do this, I want you to go back and force me to comply with what you need me to do.  Make it so that the rest don’t discover the truth about Archimedes until he chooses to tip his hand.”</p><p>“All I did to Archimedes was to teach him how to be a good person, or at least a better person than you.  I think he only managed to fool you because you wanted to believe him,” Sarah said.  “As for forcing you to comply, the only thing that would make it an option is if you’re sincerely volunteering for me to do something completely evil to you.  I’d still have to ask Archimedes for permission, and I don’t think he’d like it.”</p><p>“Idiot,” Moebius spat.  “If what you’re saying is true, then you’ve crippled both him and yourself, and hopefully the rest of the Circle isn’t affected.  Common morality doesn’t apply to us.  We answer only to ourselves.”</p><p>“Is the name Anarcrothe familiar to you?” Sarah asked.  “From what we can piece together, me shoving Janos saved Ecthelion and Anarcrothe got turned into a nobody.  I owe you an apology, but I can’t quite bring myself to make it sincere.  My point is that a corrupted Guardian said something similar.”</p><p>Moebius shook his head.  “The Wheel protected me and it’s something we knew when we broke free of the vampires.”</p><p>“Carponus e donadi?” Sarah asked.  “It means duty and selflessness, but there’s a whole explanation that goes with it.  Were the vempari able to teach you anything about it?”</p><p>“They simply held us in their fortress, waiting for us to become old enough for the curse,” Moebius said.  “I had to endure seven years of being afraid that one of them would lose control of their bloodthirst.”</p><p>“Are you being honest?” Sarah asked.</p><p>“You have a way to tell,” Moebius said.</p><p>It took only a moment for Sarah to dig deep enough to know that what Moebius said was true, and not just a self-delusion.  “Mistakes were made, but I just cannot right now.”</p><p>“They were evil.  We were right to try to wipe them out, both the original vampires and the humans that they cursed,” Moebius said.</p><p>“Stop.”  Sarah sighed and rubbed her face.  “You’ve never met an uncursed vempari, have you?  I know what the curse does to humans, but if somehow it’s worse for them…  If Janos is typical and Ozker an exception, no wonder you think poorly of them.”</p><p>“Do not try to downplay what they’re like,” Moebius said.</p><p>Sarah stared hard.  “I simply do not want to get into this with you.”</p><p>“You’re afraid that you’ll agree with me,” Moebius said.</p><p>Sarah licked her talon and made a hash-mark in the air.</p><p>“How did you manage to hold on to your humanity?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“I didn’t.  I have a fake conscience and constantly trying to find the most moral course might be the only thing keeping me from turning into a complete monster,” Sarah said.  “I lost count of how many people I killed when the alternative was starving, but it must have been hundreds.  I get that humans don’t like being prey, but I bet that bird you had for lunch would have tried to injure its butcher if it had a chance.”</p><p>“You were quite monstrous when you brought me the Reaver, including snapping my neck out of spite,” Moebius said.</p><p>“I know about that.  From Raziel’s side, I told him that I was doing it just to mess with you,” Sarah said.  “Would you like me to try to be nicer?”</p><p>“You can’t just not do something after it’s been done,” Moebius said.  “You’re an abomination that could manage it, but I’m begging you to memorize what happened and do your best to adhere to it.”</p><p>“If you ask from your title and the Time Guardian who sends me back confirms it, I am obligated to follow instructions,” Sarah said.  “But if you want me to be mean to you, why are you angry at me?”</p><p>Moebius growled in frustration, and then began laughing.  “Of course.  I’ve never been able to send a pawn against myself before.  I haven’t had this much fun in a long time.”</p><p>Sarah rolled her eyes.  “At least it’s someone who deserves it.”</p><p>“What do you intend to do to me?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“You hurt my sire.  Both of them, actually, but all I care about is what Archimedes truly needs from you, what all of us need from you,” Sarah said.  “If you have a better nature to appeal to, fine.  If you do something that forces me to take the easy route, committing an evil act will not damage me.  If it requires us to stop your aging, there is a way to do it without the nasty side-effects, not that I think you have anything left that the curse would destroy.”</p><p>“Can I please speak with Archimedes again?” Moebius asked.  “I just want him to understand the damage that you’ve done to him.”</p><p>“I will relay your request, and he is allowed to refuse, but first I am willing to listen to what you think I did wrong,” Sarah said.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Moebius stared hard at Sarah.  “Trying to hold him to the same morals as a common peasant is cruel.  Treating people as pawns is necessary to preserve the integrity of time, and I’m wondering if part of the current instability is because he has trouble doing so.”</p><p>“I’d like to try the trolley problem on you.  There is no wrong answer, but the justification you give for the answer is the interesting part.”  Sarah generated a simple illusion.  “A trolley is a heavy vehicle that cannot stop quickly.  It rides on rails so it is limited in direction.  There are five people on the track that cannot get out of the way, and they will be smooshed.  The only way to prevent it is to direct the trolley onto a parallel track where there is only one person who cannot escape being smooshed.  As someone with the knowledge and authority to do so, do you pull the switch to change the direction of the trolley?”</p><p>“Who are the people?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“Workers, ordinary people, whoever.  Giving them actual identities is an advanced version of the question,” Sarah said.  “How many people is also the only variable.  There is no other hazard to putting the trolly on another track.”</p><p>Moebius thought.  “If there is no benefit to me either way, it depends on my mood.  If I am feeling generous, I would redirect the trolley.  If I am feeling apathetic, I would let it do what it will.”</p><p>“Well, you’ve jumped straight into the practical application, but I can work with that.  There are no wrong answers, but there are horrifying ones, and I’ve heard worse,” Sarah said.  “Next is the doctor variation.  Organs can fail, but it’s possible to transfer healthy organs from fresh cadavers to replace them.  Do you think a healer should be able to kill one person to save five?”</p><p>“A healer’s purpose is to save lives, so of course,” Moebius said.</p><p>“The healer’s oath says the opposite.  Every individual places their life into their hands, knowing that the healer will do what they can, and every person is weighted equally but individually.  Even a murderous dictator is safe when under their knives.  In my opinion, if that sacred oath is broken, then people may choose to try and treat their injuries themselves rather than risk being chosen as a sacrifice, and more would likely die,” Sarah said.  “When I was human, my answer to the trolley problem was to throw the switch to have one person die rather than five, but an equally valid answer is that doing nothing is better than directly causing someone to die.”</p><p>“I could never convince a barber to commit an assassination for the greater good.  I suppose it would be bad for business,” Moebius said.  “What is your answer to the problem now that you have killed many to sustain your own existence?”</p><p>“Probably throw the switch, but I have no justification either way.  I realize that I have no excuse for killing others rather than myself, especially when I went after innocents instead of trying to take on your hunters,” Sarah said.  “Archimedes would like to choose throwing the switch, but in practical application the system is too complex.  He crunched the numbers and there is a hard limit on his capacity to care.  He only acts on big-picture stuff because he can’t afford to burn out and acting carelessly can be worse than nothing.”</p><p>Moebius frowned.  “He wouldn’t have to worry about his capacity to care if he didn’t care at all.  It’s also fortunate that he learned how to lie.”</p><p>“I made sure that he learned every trick that we could find and made it clear that dishonesty is to be expected.  I realize that there are some aspects to his duty that seem unsavory, but he is free to do what he must.” Sarah said.</p><p>“You taught him to lie?  You’re bad at it,” Moebius said.</p><p>“I made sure he knew how,” Sarah corrected.  “I admit that I might have made some mistakes, and that letting him figure it out on his own might have been a wiser choice, but I think that on the whole it has worked out.”</p><p>“Is there anything he has done that you disapprove of?” Moebius asked.</p><p>Sarah paused in thought.  “That’s between us.  I doubt that he would tell you if you had a chance to ask.”</p><p>Moebius frowned.  “And what do you do to him when he doesn’t act according to your wishes?”</p><p>“I beg him not to and he usually does it anyway,” Sarah said.  “I think that I would rather talk about you for a while.  A lot of his suffering was caused by you.”</p><p>“How so?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“I realize that I’m going to have to take your word for it about what you couldn’t not do, but why do you think Kain wanted him dead?” Sarah asked.  “Some of the finicky bits rely on Kain being paranoid, but not too much… it meant that after what you did to Kain, he became convinced that Archimedes was going to do something similar.  If the bullying had been any more subtle, we might have missed it until it was too late.  Archimedes refused to make an accusation without proof.  Someone had to get between them, and at one point it was me.  I stood a good chance of dying, maybe permanently, but Archimedes wouldn’t have had a chance.”</p><p>Moebius shook his head.  “I can’t see the alternate paths anymore.  I don’t know what I could have done.”</p><p>“Not my area, but I imagine that it’s stuck.  We just have to clean up the mess,” Sarah said.  </p><p>Moebius looked sick.  “There is something that I am curious about.  Archimedes said that he had an incredible plan to avoid being cursed.  Do you know anything about that?”</p><p>“That would be a dangerous question if we didn’t already know, even with the idea that he was lying to you.  The plan part felt like he was going to commit suicide, but fortunately he’s good at improvising and his luck is surreal.  There was a discussion, and the fact that he’s still alive is a good sign that it’s not going to come up again when he’s old enough.  The short version is that there are more reasons not to force him than reasons for it,” Sarah said.  “That bit about your childhood would have been really useful, but I think I still might be able to use it for one of my projects.”</p><p>“There is no such thing as luck,” Moebius said.</p><p>“That’s what makes it spooky.  Archimedes claims that he doesn’t know how things keep lining up so well,” Sarah said.  “There is a superstition about Lady Fortuna of the Stars, but hopefully she’s not some sort of pseudo-god.”</p><p>Moebius flinched.  “Can you leave me for a while, and have paper and writing supplies sent to me?  I might have an explanation, but first I need to sort out what I do know from what I think I know.”</p><p>“Do you still want to talk to Archimedes?” Sarah asked.</p><p>Moebius nodded.  “I want to make him aware of what you did wrong.”</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kain, Janos, and Archimedes gathered in Archimedes’ apartment in Aschedorf.  When Sarah arrived, Kain asked, “What news of Moebius?”</p><p>Sarah considered a moment.  “I should have asked sooner, but am I supposed to be working with a deadline?”</p><p>“He poses a danger for as long as he’s alive,” Kain said.</p><p>Sarah nodded.  “I realize that, but I think you should allow me to do this my way if possible.  I am an artist, and I think I can make his downfall into a thing of beauty.”</p><p>“At what price?” Archimedes asked.</p><p>“I am asking for trust,” Sarah said.  “Don’t ask me to explain how I’m doing it.  Do not interfere.  I will be fine unless I make a mistake that requires me to be put down.”</p><p>Kain asked, “Is there anything that you can give us to show that you’re making progress?”</p><p>“I admit that it looks like I got distracted,” Sarah said.  “Probing Moebius to see if he’s genuine would have ruined what I’m doing, but I’m willing to believe that he still cares about Archimedes.  We spent at least half of the time arguing about Guardian ethics and he still thinks that I might have impaired our current Timestreamer.”  She turned to Archimedes.  “He wants to speak with you again.  Whether you accept or refuse won’t disrupt what I’m doing.”</p><p>“I’ll think about it,” Archimedes said.</p><p>Janos scoffed.  “I can’t imagine that an argument about ethics with Moebius would have taken very long.”</p><p>“Actually, it’s convenient that you’re here,” Sarah said.  “Do you know anything about Moebius’ time at the Citadel?”</p><p>“Yes.  I left roughly four years before the rebellion, but he was brought there about three years previous,” Janos said.  “He was too young to be turned, but we couldn’t risk anything happening to the new Guardians, so we intended to hold them there until they were ready.”</p><p>“Do you know what their daily lives were like?” Sarah asked.</p><p>“We gave them ways to occupy themselves,” Janos said.  “They could not assume their duties until we gave them the gift.”</p><p>“Moebius didn’t know anything about carponus e donadi,” Sarah said.  “Why didn’t anyone try to teach them about it?”</p><p>Janos frowned.  “It is merely a way to focus our inherent nature.  It would have been just pretty words without that.”</p><p>“What about Catullus?  Didn’t you say he was damaged?” Sarah asked.</p><p>“Even though his nature was suppressed, he did rise to a call to duty, misguided as his task is,” Janos said.</p><p>“You were unhappy that he got upset and attacked a Guardian,” Sarah said.  “The same one who is standing right here and being amazingly patient considering how much you’re casually insulting him.”</p><p>Kain said, “I seem to recall that you once flew into such a rage that I was genuinely afraid that you would manage to kill me.  I do not admit that lightly, even to myself.”</p><p>“I couldn’t possibly have,” Janos said.</p><p>“How could I forget about that?” Sarah asked.  “We did deserve to be scared witless, but you were terrifying.  Two days later, you were acting like nothing happened.  I could help you try to remember.”</p><p>“You are a creature tainted by falsehoods.  I would not have you confusing me,” Janos said.</p><p>Kain frowned.  “Janos, clearly your mind is damaged.  Let her help you.”</p><p>Janos smiled serenely at Kain.  “I assure you that I am perfectly well.  If you’ll excuse me, I have other responsibilities to attend to.”</p><p>After Janos was gone, Sarah let off a shriek.  “So close.  I saw a weak point forming, but it went away again before I could get a wedge in.”</p><p>Kain frowned.  “You would have entered his mind without consent?”</p><p>“When someone is that far gone, I am perfectly justified in doing whatever I have to,” Sarah said.  “I’ve been trying the gentle approach for years, but the contradictions keep building.  I’m being poetic, but it’s like his madness is defending itself.  I’m not looking forward to having to get invasive.”</p><p>“And what Janos said about how they treated the human Guardians?” Kain asked.</p><p>“The details check out.  Two points of view is still iffy for second-hand knowledge, especially with how Janos is unreliable,” Sarah said.</p><p>“What Moebius did was inexcusable, but I find that I dislike the thought of making him suffer further.”  Kain turned to Archimedes.  “If I had known this, I might have simply treated you with mistrust instead of avisva.  I apologize for how unfair I’ve been.”</p><p>“Thank you,” Archimedes said.  “I still think my predecessor is evil, but if someone like you can feel sorry for him, I’m worried about Sarah taking joy in hurting him.  Telling him off felt good, but I’m starting to not hate him so much now that I’ve done it.”</p><p>“I don’t really want to hurt him right now, but that might change.  I’m not sure how it’s going to go because it depends on him,” Sarah said.</p><p>“How can you break him without hurting him?” Archimedes said.</p><p>“Some pain may be necessary, but mostly I’m trying to figure him out.  We’re even playing a game, though the stakes are pretty low.  I showed him some of my weak spots and he went for a few of them, not that he can do anything effective,” Sarah said.  “I don’t think that he realizes that he’s creating openings for me.”</p><p>“You can convince us not to interfere, but you need to explain exactly what you are doing,” Kain said.</p><p>“Fair enough.  I’ll hold you to that if this sounds worrying,” Sarah said.  “Oh, just in case there is yelling later, there is one important thing.  We talked about the day I returned the Reaver.  Moebius begged me to try to do it the way I did do it.  I told him that if he asks from his title and it’s okay with the current Guardian, I am obligated to.  He didn’t ask me officially, but I think it’s implied.  He’s amused with the idea of sending a pawn to mess with him.”</p><p>“This is Timestreamer business.  Duty before personal feelings, so consider it from the title,” Archimedes said.</p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sarah composed her thoughts.  “When I went into his cell, he immediately demanded to know what I did to Archimedes.  I told him that I didn’t play multi-board speed chess, and I needed him to explain because the machinations were beyond me.  He was working under the assumption that I mind-raped Archimedes.  Moebius demanded that if the rest of the Circle made me do it, that I should use time-travel to mind-rape him instead.”</p><p>Kain said.  “If he volunteered, should this not be settled?”</p><p>“Tricking him into going quietly is an uncomfortable gray area but acceptable.  Letting him volunteer for Sarah to force him is acceptable.  Tricking him into volunteering is not acceptable,” Archimedes said.</p><p>“I also let him know that I would not be damaged if he did something that forced me to take the easy route,” Sarah said.  “I hope he was paying attention when I told him that you wouldn’t like it.”</p><p>“So he knows that I haven’t been mind-controlled?” Archimedes asked.</p><p>“I told him that all I did was teach you how to be a good person.  The argument is how I learned that the vempari didn’t try to teach the Guardians about carponus e donadi,” Sarah said.  “Moebius’ exact words were, ‘Idiot.  If what you’re saying is true, then you’ve crippled both him and yourself, and hopefully the rest of the Circle isn’t affected.  Common morality doesn’t apply to us.  We answer only to ourselves.’  They’ve had that attitude since the rebellion.  He claims that he doesn’t know who Anarcrothe was.”</p><p>Kain shuddered.  “The rules are different for us, but we answer to the good of the world.  It is a miracle that a disaster didn’t happen sooner.”</p><p>“Part of why Moebius yelled at me was because he thought I expected Archimedes to follow ordinary people rules, but I got that mostly straightened out,” Sarah said.  “He doesn’t know all of my rules, but I told him that they might be all that’s keeping me from being a complete monster.”</p><p>“Does he know you’re a black-ribboner?” Archimedes asked.</p><p>Sarah gave a devious grin as she shook her head.  “I also brought up the fact that he’s hurt both of my sires.  But then I told him that the only thing I cared about was what we actually needed him to do and that I was willing to appeal to his better nature if he had one.”</p><p>“It sounds like a single-person version of what we were trying to do,” Kain said.</p><p>“It’s harder to pull off with just one person, and it would work better if I wasn’t a vampire, but I think I can keep him disoriented with it for a bit longer,” Sarah said.</p><p>“You mentioned that you showed him some of your weaknesses,” Kain said.</p><p>“Archimedes is an obvious one.  If Moebius is foolish enough to try and play us off of each other, I’ll send a clear message that it won’t be tolerated.  As it is, I’m not sure that he can get the right angle,” Sarah said.  “I refused to show much emotion about what the vempari did to him, and outright stated that I didn’t want to talk about it with him.  He accused me of being afraid that I’ll agree with him, and I indicated that he had scored a point.”</p><p>“Why would you do that?” Archimedes asked.</p><p>“Paltering.  He seems weak to it and I’d rather not test lying to him until I need to, especially since he thinks I’m a bad liar.  Giving him an inch got him to change the subject before he took a mile,” Sarah said.  “Even if I do agree with him, it’s dangerous to outright say so on certain topics.  If I can lead him to believe that I’m conflicted instead of truthfully saying he’s right, I’ll avoid giving him an opportunity to get at an actual vulnerable spot.”</p><p>Kain growled.  “What you’re saying is worrying.”</p><p>“I did say that I might make a mistake that would lead to me needing to be put down,” Sarah said.  “As it is, I think he’s not going to undermine me no matter how hard he tries.  I will be very embarrassed if he even gets close.”</p><p>Archimedes shook his head.  “I don’t think you should play with him.  I know that sometimes I have to manipulate people for the greater good, but your fake conscience might get damaged.”</p><p>“Do you have many opportunities to manipulate for the good of the person being manipulated?” Sarah asked.</p><p>Archimedes thought.  “Occasionally.  Most people don’t know it, and those that do are usually ungrateful for the help.”</p><p>“The way I apply it is very different, but manipulation is not automatically malicious,” Sarah said.</p><p>“Have you ever manipulated me?” Archimedes asked.</p><p>“Every time I taught you something by making you think of it yourself,” Sarah said.</p><p>Archimedes blinked.  “That’s… I’m not angry.”</p><p>“You might have a shortage of gratitude, but it’s okay to brag to people who understand if you happen to do something marvelous,” Sarah said.</p><p>“When you said you wanted to give Moebius a beautiful downfall…” Kain frowned.</p><p>“I hope it doesn’t upset you too much that I might be sending him off with a feeling of joy,” Sarah said.</p><p>“If that’s what it takes to keep him from trying anything clever, I don’t care,” Kain growled.</p><p>“What ultimately happens to him isn’t about revenge,” Archimedes said.  “I still want him to pay for what he’s done.”</p><p>“Letting him off easy would be challenging,” Sarah said.  “He can’t get to the joy without confronting what he’s done.”</p><p>“I think that I am willing to talk to him again,” Archimedes said.  “Is there anything else I should know?”</p><p>“I asked him the trolley problem and he leapt into practical application.  His answer was that it depended on his mood.  His answer to the doctor problem was that their purpose was to save as many lives as possible,” Sarah said.</p><p>“I hope you set him straight,” Archimedes said.</p><p>Sarah nodded.</p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Archimedes walked into the cell and said, “Moebius, this is my brother, Catullus.  Be nice or I’m leaving.”</p><p>Moebius’ face twisted from hatred to contempt and a few other contorted positions before settling into disdain.  “Why have you brought him?”</p><p>“Him being here will making harder for you to get away with anything cute,” Archimedes said.  “Try not to embarrass me.”</p><p>Moebius said, “What I have to say is not something that an outsider should hear.”</p><p>Archimedes’ eyes glowed for a moment, then he spoke in Vempari, “Again a big risk.  This will be uncomfortable, possibly horrifying.  I want your help.”</p><p>Catullus responded.  “Leaving you alone with evil is also again big risk.”</p><p>Archimedes switched back to English.  “Tread very carefully.  He knows some things, but try not to be too revolting.”</p><p>Moebius sneered.  “As you wish.  Sarah has tried to impose terrible constraints on you.  The most distressing result is that you care about people.  I’m afraid that it makes you hesitate to do what needs to be done.  Manipulating people is necessary, and it’s horrible that you aren’t able to have fun while doing it.  If you hadn’t managed to fool me, I would have meddled.”</p><p>“Manipulating people is necessary.  Even when I turn things in a person’s favor, they are rarely grateful.  I know that the vampires never tried to teach you about carponus e donadi, duty and selflessness, but it allows me to do what needs to be done while being able to care about who I’m hurting along the way,” Archimedes said.  “Thank you for confirming that I did the right thing by being dishonest with you.”</p><p>Moebius frowned in confusion, especially at how Catullus remained impassive.  Then his eyes widened with dawning horror.</p><p>“Calm down, Moebius, before you say something that you’ll regret.  Yes, culturally I am one of them, but it’s better than the alternatives.  Vempari aren’t joyless, I just have little to be happy about,” Archimedes said.  “Sorry, Catullus, but I really don’t think you needed to hear exactly what insults he would have used.”</p><p>Moebius shook his head in disorientation.  “There is a right way to do that.”</p><p>“If you prefer, I’ll keep the seams smooth,” Archimedes said.</p><p>“I’m having trouble forming a coherent question now,” Moebius said.  “How is it better that you’re one of them?”</p><p>“Part of the decision is the result of a loop and things that aligned without my deliberately doing anything, but it’s saved me from death.  Despite my best efforts, it was getting difficult to survive until I was old enough to be cursed and I couldn’t use your sort of help,” Archimedes said.  “Also, I think what it’s really like is different than you imagine.  Catullus, you’ve spent time around the old generation.  Maybe you can explain better.”</p><p>“My mother was a pariah before I was born, so other than her, we weren’t around other vempari.  Ozker was born vempari, but was a heretic and became a cursed Hylden.  Sarah had all of Ozker’s knowledge of our culture.  We never knew the Wheel for anything than a parasite, and we do not share the same values as those who came from the war, even though all vempari are apostates now.”</p><p>Catullus paused to clear his throat and continued.  “The older vempari are problematic, and I hope that as a race we can improve.  Vempari have no divine spark that makes us better, it’s just arrogance.  My peers are learning to see humans as equals and friends.  It is not perfect, but it is getting better.”</p><p>“This is something that I am going to have to think about.”  Moebius noticed Catullus’ grin.  “What?”</p><p>“He just won a bet,” Archimedes said.  “I asked you not to embarrass me.”</p><p>Moebius frowned.  “That is another thing I want to talk to you about.  Why is time so unstable?  Why are you having, for the lack of a better word, luck?  I tried to come up with an explanation, but I’m missing too many pieces of the puzzle.”</p><p>“You’re used to being within the Reaver’s loop.  The rest of it is Sarah,” Archimedes said.  “I’m surrounded by people with weak or broken Destinies, some of them have the potential to be around for centuries, and Sarah keeps breaking more Destinies.  I don’t want to get rid of her because her influence is mostly positive, but it makes things frighteningly interesting.”</p><p>“I don’t agree with this,” Moebius said.</p><p>“Too bad.  I’m sorry for the inconveniences I caused you, but now it’s my turn to do things my way,” Archimedes said.  “Besides, Fred also benefited.  He was beneath my notice and it wouldn’t have even occurred to me that his situation could be better.”</p><p>“As a tool against the Hylden,” Moebius said.  “Do you know why Sarah is capable of wreaking complete havoc?”</p><p>“She’s not from here, so my best guess is that she doesn’t belong in the world,” Archimedes said.  “There was a dimensional instability on her world that dropped her in Janos’ aerie at exactly the moment that would annoy you most.”</p><p>“Destinies come from the Wheel of Fate,” Moebius said.  “She either doesn’t have one, or her Destiny was written by something else.”</p><p>“Now I’m really glad that I didn’t try to remove her,” Archimedes said.  “If there’s nothing else, we’ll be going.  I don’t like you, but it was not unpleasant to have an honest conversation with you.”</p><p>“I suppose now that I’ve gotten my request, it is time to die,” Moebius said.</p><p>“We still need to be sure you won’t cause trouble.  Now that you know the truth, you can ask Sarah to do otherwise immoral magic to your mind,” Archimedes said.  “Personally, I think it would be fun to see you try to put up a fight.”</p><p>“If you honestly don’t object, I would like to play the game one last time,” Moebius said.  “It will end with her forcing me against my will.”</p><p>Archimedes nodded.  “I am alright with that.”</p><p>As they were getting up to leave, Janos burst in.  “I thought that what they were doing was a mistake, and I just now learned that they were allowing you two to collude.  I must remove the danger.”</p><p>Catullus stepped in front of him.  “Father, it is fine.  The Guardians know what they are doing.”</p><p>Janos blinked as he looked at his son.  “Catullus?  What are they trying to do to you?”</p><p>“They’re not colluding.  I was asked here to make sure they weren’t,” Catullus said.  “Archimedes isn’t like the last one.”</p><p>“Hopefully you can be saved once he is dead.”  Janos reached out to shove Catullus aside, but instead was grabbed from behind.</p><p>“I will kill you if I must,” Kain growled.  “Archimedes, are you still sure that you need him?”</p><p>“I’m not sure that I don’t,” Archimedes said.</p><p>With that, Janos was dragged from the room.</p><p>Six of the Guardians plus Ozker were gathered in the room outside of the cell.  Catullus ran to Keturah and began sobbing.  </p><p>Chixiksi came into the cell.  “Are you unharmed?”</p><p>“Physically I’m fine,” Archimedes said.  “I should have been able to see that coming even without my powers.  Janos is deranged.”</p><p>“How long have you known?” Chixiksi asked.  “It doesn’t matter, he should have been detained.”</p><p>“We couldn’t.  Vempari don’t tolerate being confined,” Finneas said.</p><p>“Don’t lecture me about cages.”  Chixiksi walked out of the room and his yelling was muffled by the closed door.</p><p>Moebius sat down again.  “Care to explain?”</p><p>“They do not trust me.  If I had started the argument they are having now…”  Archimedes sat as well.  </p><p>“What about Sarah?” Moebius asked.  “She seems to care for you deeply.”</p><p>“If she were able to, she would have done it herself two years ago,” Archimedes said.  “Vampires love their sires, like a geas, and it’s very difficult for them to cause any harm to the one that cursed them.”</p><p>“That’s horrible,” Moebius said.  “How many in the Circle have living sires?”</p><p>“I can’t do anything about it,” Archimedes said.</p><p>“You’re a clever boy, but you need to keep your lies believable,” Moebius said.</p><p>“This is none of your concern and I still don’t want your help,” Archimedes said.  “Unless you want to bring this up with Kain yourself?”</p><p>Moebius held his hands up in surrender.</p>
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<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Moebius had a huge grin on his face when Sarah entered his cage the next day.</p><p>“I apologize for the attack,” Sarah said.  “I will not speak with you about Janos.”</p><p>“Oh, but I have so much to say about that.  Using a geas to keep you from taking retribution on the one who cursed you?  That is diabolical.  I bet that you have trouble even thinking badly about him.  I remember his cold stare, the way he treated me like an infant, and his offspring… He could not see that instead of elevating humans, he was merely turning them into bloodthirsty monsters like him.  Vorador, Finneas, and Randalf would play cruel games with us.  They never made a mark, but we were constantly in terror from them as well as the rest of the vampires who might simply lose control of their bloodthirst.”</p><p>Sarah quirked her head at him with a slightly interested expression.</p><p>Moebius frowned.  “A deranged outsider having control over a member of the Circle, especially one who has the capability to destroy it?  It makes me almost pleased that I’ll be involved in creating that mess without having to deal with the consequences.  It’s almost as bad as making a Hylden into a Guardian, though not as absurd.  We kept the Pillars intact for far longer than you will, and your failure will come from your own mistakes.”</p><p>“I bet it does please you that it has turned into a contest, though I’d also bet that you had rough patches in your beginning as well,” Sarah said.  “As for Chixiksi, he is doing an impeccable job.”</p><p>“He’s a Hylden.”</p><p>“So?”</p><p>“They’re evil.”</p><p>“Because?”</p><p>“They possessed Mortanious, killed Ariel, corrupted the Pillars…” Moebius said.</p><p>“Let’s play a game,” Sarah said.  “Tell their story from their point of view.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Pretend you’re a Hylden and tell the story from their point of view.  How about we make it easier.  Do you play what if?”  At Moebius’ hesitant nod, she continued.  “Let’s use a scenario where you are a nobody and the Pillars remained under vampire control.”</p><p>Moebius frowned.  “I’m having trouble thinking like a Hylden.”</p><p>Sarah shook her head.  “You don’t need to get that deep.  Repeat after me.  The vampires put us into a terrible place and we only wanted to get out.”</p><p>Moebius inhaled sharply, but then began speaking.  “The vampires put us into a terrible place and we only wanted to get out.  Eventually one of our jailers was careless and didn’t know how dangerous we were.  We whispered things to draw her interest.  She brought another who was ignorant of what we were but fascinated by what we had to say.  We watched, waited, found a weakness.  We didn’t care about their kind.  We were desperate and we hated them.”</p><p>Moebius shook himself out of the spell.  “What did you do to me?”</p><p>“I asked you to tell a story,” Sarah said.  “It’s nothing that you couldn’t theoretically do.”</p><p>“So the Hylden weren’t evil?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“Mehriban was a bit of a pompous jerk, but mostly they’re just people.  Really angry about what was done to them, but people,” Sarah said.  “But they view humans as animals, not realizing that uplifting humanity’s intelligence would make them someday capable of being on their level.”</p><p>“The Hylden tried to make humans like them?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“I think the intention was just to make humans able to follow instructions.”  Sarah continued, “During the war, they were building a machine capable of killing everything that wasn’t them, it’s just that the vempari got their doomsday weapon done first.  The Hylden even had the curse ready to deploy for a couple centuries, but they kept arguing about whether or not it was too terrible to use.  The cure was lost when the Hylden were banished, but it was possible to duplicate it with the right know-how.  Hylden are fanatical about failsafes.”</p><p>“A cure for vampirism?  Why haven’t you used it?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“There is no cure for death,” Sarah said.  “I’m actually not sure what would happen.  Would I lose some of my gifts and just be left with the Razielim part?  We only found one volunteer for the cure.  Everyone else seems happy the way they are.  Well Ozker would like to be able to bathe again, but the curse and the immortality treatment are variations on the same thing.  If he’s cured, he’s irreversibly mortal.”</p><p>“And what about the genocide machine?  Would they be able to build another one?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“That is why we’re trying to make nice with them,” Sarah said.  “We still have our weapon, but using it means going back to square one with a blocked path forward.”</p><p>“It’s odd to think of the Pillars as a weapon,” Moebius said.  “A Hylden Guardian might mean you can’t use it,”</p><p>Sarah blinked in surprise.  “I wonder if that was intentional.”</p><p>“Whose intention?” Moebius asked.</p><p>Sarah shrugged.  “Archimedes did meddle with the choices, but before he went back, he asked Kain if any changes were wanted and Kain didn't once he turned one lie into truth.  I was unconscious during part of the meddling because Archimedes knocked me out, but it was suggested that Ozker could be the Guardian instead of Chixiksi, it’s just that Kain trusted Chixiksi more.”</p><p>“You trust Archimedes even after he knocked you out?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“I never trusted him.  He doesn’t want it anyway because he might have to betray me.  But after he met you, he demanded that I invade his privacy to make sure you didn’t get ahold of him.  You used some nasty hooks,” Sarah said.  “Anyway, I’m an unpredictable element, especially before he got to know me.  I taught him exactly how to make it look like an accident, but it could have been an accident outside of the loop.”</p><p>“Sarah, are you sure that he doesn’t have a geas on you as well?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“Carponus e donadi,” Sarah said.  “Two of us follow it, two more know more than a little about it, and the rest go by the looser sentiment of trying not to let another oopsie happen.”</p><p>“It’s enough to let you be calm about the possibility of being betrayed?” Moebius asked.</p><p>Sarah shook her head.  “Only if someone gets fanatical about it.  Vempari stories are full of people who let themselves become martyrs, but I don’t think it’s a good thing.  Have you ever heard the story of the frog and the scorpion?”</p><p>“What is the scorpion?” Moebius asked.</p><p>Sarah conjured an illusion and it scuttled across the table before harmlessly stinging Moebius’ hand.  “There was a scorpion that wanted to cross a river, but it could not swim.  It saw a frog and asked the frog for a ride on its back.  The frog at first refused, saying that it was afraid the scorpion would kill it.  The scorpion said that if it did that, they both would die.  The frog agreed to carry the scorpion, but halfway across the river, the scorpion stung it.  The frog asked why, and the scorpion replied ‘It is my nature.’”  </p><p>Sarah paused.  “Archimedes has already done terrible things, and the others might not always understand why.  I think that the only other person who is capable of truly understanding that is Kain, and he doesn’t like the thought of it happening to him again.  As long as I’m sure that Archimedes is acting in the interests of the world, and not just using people as playthings, I will not fault him for what he is.  I can’t expect him to be like a chicken when he’s an eagle.”</p><p>“I suppose that with that attitude, he would not betray you lightly,” Moebius said.</p><p>“I hadn’t thought of that,” Sarah said.  “I know my conscience is fake, but I don’t know if the same can be said for my compassion.”</p><p>“A murderer with compassion?” Moebius asked.</p><p>Sarah frowned.  “It’s possible for you to stop eating meat.  All you have to do is tell your jailers and they’ll change what they give you.  Was your food murdered?”</p><p>“Animals aren’t people,” Moebius said.</p><p>“Animals have feelings, the ability to feel pain, and the desire to live,” Sarah said.  “I try to make it merciful.”</p><p>“Try harder,” Moebius spat.</p><p>Sarah shrugged.  “I could ask Hardegin if he learned any better methods during his time with the Sarafan.”</p><p>Moebius’ face twisted in disgust.  “You may have convinced me that the Hylden weren’t completely evil, and I’m open to the possibility that vempari and vampires are two different things, but I will not have sympathy for your kind.”</p><p>Sarah shrugged.  “The vempari started the war because God told them to.  I’ll let you mull that one over in private.  As for the curse, I don’t want to argue too much about it with you.  Even if I’m convinced that it should be reduced to a set of instructions in the Hylden archives, we’re not in a position to make it happen.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I have much to think about, but I don’t want to be left to it just yet,” Moebius said.  “I don’t suppose you know how to play chess?”</p><p>“Vorador tried to teach me how to play it properly, but eventually he said that it gave him the urge to rip out my intestines and use them to tie me out in the rain,” Sarah said.  “How about I teach you how to play Jenga?  I think you’d like it as long as your hands are steady.”</p><p>Moebius nodded and said, “I’m glad that you’re at least capable of speaking poorly about him.”</p><p>“One of his few redeeming qualities was his commitment to keeping the bloodline going despite being able to see the futility.”  Sarah quirked an eyebrow at Moebius’ expression.  “I don’t approve of genocide.”</p><p>Several rounds into the game, Moebius was tapping at the blocks in thought.  “I admit that the concept has a certain appeal.  Find the piece that is lose, hope that removing it doesn’t cause the entire thing to collapse.  Eventually it becomes so unstable that a mistake is inevitable.  I don’t think that your handicap is about making this game fair.”</p><p>“No, even when I played this on my world, I would just go for it without tapping blocks.”  Sarah stared at the tower and pointed to a block.  “If this one doesn’t slide out easily, it’s because of a hidden irregularity in the block or those around it.  Even then it will still come without too much force.”</p><p>Moebius effortlessly pulled the block out.  “You pretended to give me a small advantage and then used your powers.”</p><p>Sarah shook her head.  “I just get really interested in the sort of knowledge that would let me work it out.  Am I missing an ability that my predecessors had?”</p><p>“Nupraptor could pick up an object and tell us about the person who owned it,” Moebius said.</p><p>Sarah shook her head.  “I’ll have to try it out to see if I just didn’t know that I could do it, but I don’t think I have an ability that helps me play Jenga.  Except for telekinesis, but that’s only for when all the players can do it.”</p><p>Moebius rolled his eyes.  “You’re inept.  You should be replaced.”</p><p>“Change the subject,” Sarah said.</p><p>Moebius chuckled.  “You let a madman pose a danger for years when it should have been a simple matter to heal him.  You don’t know the full extent of your abilities, which suggests that you don’t have a proper connection to your Pillar.  Who knows what sort of damage you’ve done without the instincts a suitable Guardian would be born with?”</p><p>“You really don’t know when to back off, do you?” Sarah asked.  “If things still happened the way Raziel remembered, all you had to do was get out of his way.  Instead, you pushed him into being willing to spare Kain just to be contrary.  Or is that what you were going for?”</p><p>Moebius sputtered.  “You don’t know anything about how it works.”</p><p>“Well you just tried to tell me how bad of a job I’m doing when you obviously have no idea of the complexities,” Sarah said.  “Can you provide actual proof that my predecessors did consider it a simple matter to heal a madness that was centuries in the making?”</p><p>“I’ve only seen them help humans.  I concede that perhaps it is a different breed of dog,” Moebius said.  “Could you not see the madness as soon as you assumed your Guardianship?”</p><p>“I cannot explain this to you,” Sarah said.  “Mortals are easier.  It is like clay instead of shale.”</p><p>“The geas?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“Privacy,” Sarah said.  “It is too easy to guess even if I talk about other cases.”</p><p>“Like Ozker,” Moebius said.</p><p>“He is quite sane, which is surprising considering that I met him in the Eternal Prison,” Sarah said.  “Are you able to explain how time works in there?  It’s a ruin now, but I’m under the impression that you acted as a custodian.  I would like to know exactly how long my internment was from my point of view.”</p><p>“All that they needed from me was to repair any tears that escaped the building.  I’m sorry that I do not know anything about the inside,” Moebius said.  “Why do people keep calling Ozker a Hylden if not to humor a delusion?”</p><p>Sarah quirked her head.  “A vempari wouldn’t have been able to survive what he went through.  Ozker became a Hylden just before it was too late.  Vempari pluck when they’re under stress and once the feathers stop growing back…”</p><p>“And Archimedes thinks he’s not human?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“No, his biology and culture are mismatched.”  Sarah watched Moebius’ face contort.  “Don’t try too hard.  If you pop a spring, it might fly in a direction I can’t point to.”</p><p>“What about Frederick?”  Moebius asked.</p><p>“He is a scientist, and not the type to have an existential crisis,” Sarah said.  “The other scientists are a mix of Hylden and Melchiahim anyway.”</p><p>“Hylden vampires or two groups?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“Two groups.  But the Melchiahim and Hylden population levels have this uncanny inverse relationship,” Sarah said.</p><p>“Stop using semantics,” Moebius said.  “Hylden are becoming cursed?”</p><p>“Hylden are joining clan Melchiah, and yes that means that they are going through to process to become necromantic vampires.  Some scientists are either remaining mortal or using the simple immortality treatment.  No one is using the curse.  Some Melchiahim scientists were made from human corpses,” Sarah said.</p><p>“I don’t know which question to ask first,” Moebius said.  “Doesn’t this worry you?  Why would the Hylden do that?”</p><p>“The demon dimension was Hell.  Some simply want to be reborn, even though most retain their memories and return to their tasks as soon as they recover.  Some are afraid of going back, and are willing to leave their race.  Some are simply so horrified at their disfigurements that they want to be something where it is normal,” Sarah said.  “As for being worried, it is something to pay attention to.  Necromantic vampires bond to the Lieutenant instead of the actual sire, and Melchiah is gone.”</p><p>“Will humanity survive a population explosion of vampires?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“They make a substance called vimputu.  One of the ingredients is human corpses, but it’s very efficient as far as how many vampires can be fed per human,” Sarah said.  “Unfortunately, vampires outside of that community still want the real stuff.”</p>
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<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Moebius snarled in disgust.  “So there is a cure and a substitute for blood, but vampires won’t do either?”</p><p>“I have just one thing to say about vimputu.”  Sarah summoned a bottle from her pocket dimension and unscrewed the cap.  “Smell.”</p><p>Moebius recoiled and his eyes started to water.  “It’s like a cat pissed in contaminated ale.”</p><p>“I don’t think we’ll get anywhere by arguing about it.”  Sarah stuck the bottle back into her pocket dimension.  “It is possible to get blood without killing, as long as the humans are cooperative.  Or not.  They were almost completely domesticated during the Empire.”</p><p>“How long do you think they’ll put up with cooperating?” Moebius asked.</p><p>Sarah shrugged.  “I argued that maybe humans and vampires could try not killing each other, and it’s been a limited success.  The only legitimate prey is vampire hunters, and killing a vampire that hunts is allowed.  We can also buy criminals.  Otherwise, both sides are relatively safe.”</p><p>“With a price in blood,” Moebius said.</p><p>“They are compensated,” Sarah said.  “For some, their main occupation is to eat specific foods in order to produce certain flavors.  It’s a very leisurely life.”</p><p>“I think I want to change the subject,” Moebius said.  “What about the superstition of Lady Fortuna?”</p><p>Sarah tittered.  “Fine, we’ll change the subject.  There isn’t much to her, as far as I can tell.  She has shrines in most of the towns and villages that have a lot of humans, and people leave small trinkets or bits of food.  She’s described as a capricious spirit that helps or hinders at her whim.”</p><p>“Is there any evidence that she’s real?” Moebius asked.</p><p>Sarah shrugged.  “I only have one story.  I was in Letestadt, a place where humans do not sell us their blood and do not tolerate vampires.  I was watching a shrine from an alleyway.  A young boy stole a loaf of bread from the shrine, and a man saw him.  The boy ran straight for the alleyway and since I was invisible at the time, he ran right into me.  In order to avoid trouble, I made the man think that the boy had vanished into thin air.  I gave the boy a chance to explain.  He said his name was Radley, he was an orphan, and he was starving.  I promised him that I would find him something else to eat if he returned the bread.”</p><p>“Wait, why did you have him return the bread?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“Because I didn’t want to take a risk.”  Sarah flinched guiltily.  “A woman named Idony owed me a favor, and I asked her to take care of Radley while I figured out what to do with him.  She asked if she could adopt him to replace the son she lost, and it seemed like an easy option.”</p><p>“I hope that you didn’t just abandon him,” Moebius said.</p><p>“I asked Keturah and Catullus to keep an eye on him.  They live in the same village and Idony’s husband tempts me to murder him slowly,” Sarah said.  “So far, Radley is simply in a better situation than he was.”</p><p>Moebius frowned as he thought.  “If I were willing to believe that Fortuna is real, it almost sounds like he was rewarded for drawing her ire.”</p><p>“Or an offering thief was disposed of,” Sarah said.  “Valeholm was a nest of squid-worshippers and I doubt they’d tolerate a shrine to anything.”</p><p>“Do you believe in luck?” Moebius asked.  “What I mean is a tendency for good things to keep happening without some influence causing it.”</p><p>“Yes.  I don’t know much about chaos theory, but there are indications that there is no such thing as chaos.  Order just becomes too incomprehensibly complex for anyone to grasp.  Even systems that should be completely random, like two colors of sand moved by water, develop obvious patches of not-random.  I think it’s called self-sorting.  There are machines on my world that can simplify or highlight the patterns that humans wouldn’t normally see despite being hard-wired to recognize patterns,” Sarah said.  “Someone could live a life where everything seems to fall into place.  It’s the chances of being that person that are amazing.”</p><p>Moebius looked perplexed.  “You’ve been inside of Archimedes mind?  How much do you understand about what we really do besides meddling?”</p><p>“Only enough to know that it’s beyond my grasp,” Sarah said.  “I can focus on a small thing, I can passively admire the whole, anything else gives me vertigo and I’ll probably get hurt if I try to push through it.”</p><p>“That’s more than I expected,” Moebius said.  “If not for the vampirism, the unpredictability, and your potential to cause complete mayhem, you’re a good thing for him.”</p><p>Sarah nodded her head slightly.  “If you’ll excuse me, I am being called away on another matter.”</p><p> </p><p>Sarah had been fibbing about being called, but she did contact Kain and Archimedes for a progress report.  “First thing he did was verbally try to knock me down, but he didn’t get anywhere.  I put him through an empathy exercise and he has a better opinion of the Hylden, or he did before I told him that some of them are choosing to become vampires, although vampires that drink vimputu.  I indulged him in a distraction and he misbehaved.  Not only did he call me inept in reference to my Guardianship, he tried to dig deeper when I told him to change the subject, but I think I didn’t lose that round.  After a bit more gossiping, he complimented me and I decided to get out of there while the getting was good.”</p><p>“What could possibly have brought on a compliment?” Kain asked.</p><p>Sarah relayed the part of the conversation from where Moebius asked her if she believed in luck.</p><p>“It is nice that you at least try to understand the concepts,” Archimedes said.</p><p>“Do you think that you are making progress?” Kain asked.  “More importantly, are you paying attention to your own safety?”</p><p>“Moebius thinks that the geas is what keeps me from speaking to him about Janos.  He keeps trying to get some leverage by talking about how my sire wronged him, but he thinks he is working against stone when it is gravel,” Sarah said.  “It will be interesting to see how long it takes for him to get worn out, but I am willing to move to something a bit more proactive.”</p><p>Kain said, “We discussed Janos while you were occupied.  Do you have time for us to catch you up?”</p>
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<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kain and Archimedes relayed the story of what happened.</p><p>The Circle was gathered in their meeting room.  Sarah, Finneas, and Bavol were missing, but Vorador sat to the right of Finneas’ empty chair and Catullus sat to the right of Archimedes.  Ozker was to the right of Chixiksi as usual.</p><p>Kain said, “Janos’ madness has caused him to be a danger to our plans.  He is contained now, but it should have been done sooner.  I apologize for putting my faith in his service to us.  Sarah came to me while the rest of you were arguing and it is clear that her love for her sire is clouding her judgment.”</p><p>“Contained?  His kind can’t tolerate being caged,” Vorador said.</p><p>“There is a way to ease it,” Ozker said.  “Keep him occupied.  Send all of the apostates to talk to him in shifts.”</p><p>“We settled on Melchiahim that did not have obvious Hylden features,” Kain said.  “Vorador, the chief reason why you are here and not Finneas or Sarah is that ultimately your word does not count in our decision, but you can speak on behalf of your siblings.  Try not to be a disruption or you will be forced to leave.”</p><p>“I should have said something two years ago,” Catullus said.  “I knew what Sarah should have done, even if I didn’t understand exactly why she didn’t.  I just couldn’t bring myself to say anything.”</p><p>“Sometimes decisions are too hard.  No one should expect you to tell people that your father needs to be committed,” Archimedes said. </p><p>“He is just a predek.”  Catullus’ use of the Hylden word instead of vempari for sperm-donor indicated his contempt.  Vempari obligation-babies were told who their father was if possible, and the father was still considered a parent even if he had no hand in raising the child.  Hylden were only made aware of their genetic history for health reasons, and the ones who raised them were their only parents.</p><p>“And what of you, Archimedes?” Kain asked.  “Could you truly not see it coming?”</p><p>“I would have at least suggested commitment just based on mundane knowledge.  You don’t trust me, and might have thought it was simply a grudge,” Archimedes said.  “I do have an idea of how Janos could be helped, but it is just a guess and might end up being impossible thanks to Sarah’s geas.”</p><p>“I will hear your idea later, but for now…” Kain nodded to Hardegin.</p><p>In one motion that was too fast for the non-vampires to follow, Hardegin rose from his seat, turned to his left, dragged Vorador from his seat, and threw him to the center of the chairs.  Before Vorador could recover from the shock, Hardegin leapt onto him and inflicted deep gouges on Vorador’s arms and face.  With a struggle, Vorador was able to throw him off and roll to his feet.”</p><p>“Enough.”  Kain stood, prepared to restrain Vorador by force.</p><p>“My apologies, sire,” Hardegin said.  “He thought it best if testing my geas came as a surprise to you.  This is for Janos’ sake.”</p><p>“At least you didn’t ruin my vest.”  Vorador pointedly took his chair from between Hardegin’s chair and Finneas’ empty spot, then put it to the right of Sarah’s empty chair.</p><p>“Sarah was once able to slap Janos.  Why do you think that is and why do you think she can’t do it now?” Kain asked.</p><p>“If it was before Janos became mortal again, a slap isn’t exactly harm.  It does surprise me that he was able to drive her into being angry enough for even that and I wonder how he did it.”  Vorador touched a still-healing cut on his face.  “Now he is delicate, and we have the potential to seriously hurt Janos even through carelessness.  I doubt that Hardegin would have been able to sincerely damage me if the fight hadn’t been stopped, and it wouldn’t be from lack of competence if he’s anything like Malek.”</p><p>“Janos was being a bigot, and she didn’t have time to bond with him before she spent a century with Ozker and Chixiksi,” Kain said.  “Could the geas become confused in the case of a fledgling being given to another?”</p><p>Vorador shook his head.  “It would be very unusual, but she is unusual.”</p><p>“Wait,” Catullus said.  “What exactly happened?”</p><p>Kain gave a recitation of the incident that happened when Sarah was five centuries younger.  https://archiveofourown.org/works/22303960/chapters/53977954</p><p>Catullus frowned.  “Could she have known back then that he would go mad?”</p><p>“Not precognitively, but knowledge showed her the danger,” Archimedes said.  “Sarah’s Pillar seems to barely tolerate her, and her understanding of psychology mostly comes from her world.”</p><p>“So she was just trying to help?  She mentioned a heavy slap when talking about trying to get him to snap out of it,” Catullus said.  “Hardegin said he attacked Vorador to help Janos.”</p><p>“If she can hurt him in an attempt to help him, why is she having trouble now?” Keturah asked.</p><p>“Sarah has had to put me back together many times,” Archimedes said.  “It can be excruciating.”</p><p>Kain said, “In my case, she was afraid to do too much in case she caused more harm than good.”</p><p>“The less-attractive option is that Ozker, Chixiksi, and myself work with Sarah to try and fix Janos.  It could get messy, and the best chance is that it spurs her into taking the lead instead of just letting us use her powers.  There is a chance that she can’t bring herself to allow us to do anything,” Archimedes said.  “The other option is removing her and letting her successor help Janos.  We even had a discussion before Janos started to break, and Sarah knows that she’s not as good as the Mind Guardian should be.  I only kept her from calling for her own removal because she was needed for the current business with Moebius.”</p><p>“I will not argue that Janos does not deserve compassion, but why is this so important?” Chixiksi asked.</p><p>“Janos is part of a loop,” Archimedes said.  “Catullus could take his place, but that would mean immediately taking him off of his current project.  If that happened, he could choose to change his past to grow up among vempari, and it would even improve his ability to do what Janos was supposed to do.”</p><p>“If one vempari is as good as another, why are those the only choices?” Chixiksi asked.</p><p>“I need someone who can pose as Nasser,” Archimedes said.</p><p>“We still have Nasser’s body.  We can clone him,” Chixiksi said.  “Depending on what exactly you need, the clone could age fairly rapidly.”</p><p>“This is only about compassion now, whether for Finneas or Janos,” Archimedes said.  “However, there is something that should be considered before that choice.  I don’t know for certain, but other members of the Circle seem to be missing some of the guidance their Pillars should provide.  Some of you need to ask for advice to fulfill your duties when I understand Time completely.”</p><p>“What are you suggesting?” Kain asked.</p><p>“I will not push the matter, but it’s possible that the Pillars merely tolerate Guardians that they did not choose themselves,” Archimedes said.  “Remember that I’m not omniscient and my predecessor used tricks to seem that way.  I cannot see the proof of my theory.”</p><p>“You are asking for the death of four Guardians,” Kain said.</p><p>“Which is why I won’t insist that it be done unless we can be absolutely sure,” Archimedes said.</p><p>Kain reached the end of the explanation and said, “We decided that we shouldn’t go further without letting yourself and Finneas have a say.”</p><p>“You figured it out about Janos at least, though when I slapped him it was just about him being a bigot.  It’s his stubbornness that is the problem.  He is the oak that fell from a wind that reeds could survive.  That’s why doing anything for him is so difficult.  Now turning him into a happy imbecile is an option, though not one I like.” Sarah sighed.  “I should be able to probe the others and try to determine if they have stronger connections to their Pillars than I do.”</p>
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<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Moebius had a smug expression as Sarah walked in.  “I’ve decided to tell the jailers to stop giving me meat for my meals.  I thought it would be unsatisfying, but I was pleasantly surprised.”</p><p>Sarah nodded in acknowledgment.  “The vempari get a bit jealous about humans and Hylden being able to go vegan.  They need some form of animal protein and fish aren’t safe to eat until the last of the corruption clears.  At least the fledglings are able to get used to eggs.”</p><p>“They don’t like meat?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“It tastes fine to them, but yeah.  They get a bit empathetic towards animals that don’t come from the water.  I can’t quite bring myself to tell them that fish seem to have personalities as well,” Sarah said.  “Today I was thinking that we could talk about carponus e donadi.”</p><p>“I’d rather learn about that from Archimedes if he’s willing, even if he has to bring his brother,” Moebius said.  “I can’t believe that monster has a son.”</p><p>“Catullus didn’t even meet Janos until he was nine, and well… The kid called Janos a word that translates as sperm-donor,” Sarah said.  “I’ll relay your request.  We can talk about something else.”</p><p>“Sperm-donor?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“Giving you the context is not what I had in mind,” Sarah said.  “The man who planted the seed and did nothing to tend it has no right to the fruit.”</p><p>“I would like to think of him as a bastard, and I mean no insult by it,” Moebius said.</p><p>“If you’re going to say that to his face, use the word patrabsit,” Sarah said.  “They don’t consider it a shameful thing to not know their father is, and the same word could mean that the father is unknown, missing, or dead.”</p><p>“Patrabsit.”  Moebius nodded in satisfaction.  “On the subject of preferred names, I find it a little demeaning that my reincarnation’s name has been shortened.”</p><p>“Sorry, but Fred prefers it that way and I’m not going to risk getting mixed up about it,” Sarah said.  “If it helps, there was a man from my world named Fred Rogers and he was so powerful that few would dare challenge him.”</p><p>“Could you indulge me?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“Last time I indulged you, you attacked my Guardianship,” Sarah said.</p><p>“That’s my nature,” Moebius said.</p><p>“You are really off your game today,” Sarah said.  “The Great Manipulator is more than capable of not acting like a dingleberry.”</p><p>“I was out of line about your abilities to serve your Pillar,” Moebius said.</p><p>“Well, I’m sure your intention was just to raise my hackles, but a lot of the problems you’re poking at are things that Archimedes has known for years.  Most of the reason he hasn’t tried to get them fixed is because you’re in the way,” Sarah said.  “I will pardon you for saying uncomfortable things if you want to try and be helpful, but you are a problematic inspiration for trying to do anything about the issues you see.”</p><p>“It seems a little self-indulgent that he waited,” Moebius said.  “The larger the loop, the greater chance it can become unstable.”</p><p>“I’m not going to say a thing about it,” Sarah said.  “So you wanted to know about Fred Rogers?”</p><p>Moebius nodded.  “I will try to be gracious.”</p><p>“Okay, what’s the minimum context… On Earth, we have machines called televisions that act a bit like the time-windows.  They can be turned off, but otherwise they passively receive what images and sounds that certain organizations decide to send.  We call the organizations channels, and what they send is a broadcast.  People are given access to viewing a handful of channels that are free as long as they own the television and can pay to power it.  They can also pay for more channels, and hundreds are available.”</p><p>“For what purpose?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“It was a life full of leisure.  As a peasant I lived much better than a tavern-owner here, and entertainment was valued,” Sarah said.  “Almost every home has at least one television, and watching it is somewhat addicting.  Channels compete to see who can give the most interesting broadcast.  Mr. Rogers was granted a spot on the broadcast, which meant that if someone chose to view the right channel at the right time, they would hear and see what he wanted to show them.”</p><p>“It sounds random,” Moebius said.</p><p>Sarah shook her head.  “It’s scheduled.  Once a chunk of broadcast grabs someone’s interest, the channels want them to be able to find the next similar chunk.  There are shows where the story is fed in pieces over years.”</p><p>Moebius stared in rapt attention.  “And this Fred Rogers had their interest.”</p><p>“I’m not sure about the exact number, but it was in the thousands, maybe millions,” Sarah said.  “Now I’m going to give you a bit of context about Mr. Rogers.  It will get a bit scary and uncomfortable, but I’d like you to let me finish what I have to say.”</p><p>Moebius nodded.</p><p>“He was a minister of a messianic cult called Christianity.  The god is an unsympathetic jerk and the religion corrupt, but the teachings of Jesus are something that even atheists can get along with.  Just like how carponus e donadi can be kept even if it came from squid-worshippers,” Sarah said.  “Jesus was a man a peace and healing, and so was Fred Rogers.  What he was broadcasting was not about the religion, but the teachings.  His message was meant for children, but parents trusted Mr. Rogers and felt that they could leave the room to do other things while the children watched him.”</p><p>“What good are children?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“Children grow up, and they repeat what they are taught,” Sarah said.  “Treat them badly and they grow up to be monsters.  Treat them well and they’ll be adults who follow the example.”</p><p>“You said that Fred Rogers was so powerful that few would dare challenge him,” Moebius said.</p><p>“The wrath of a gentle man is scary, and he was loved by so many.  One must tread very carefully,” Sarah said.  “The other channels were based on greed and pandering to the lowest common denominator.  The channel he used wasn’t.  What was on the broadcast when he wasn’t were shows devoted to science, education, art, and showing the solutions to the problems of the world.  Mr. Rogers went to the leaders of the country and defended his channel’s existence.  He had other great moments, but that is one that people remember.”</p><p>Moebius considered.  “You mentioned that not everyone in the Circle follows carponus e donadi.  It seems Archimedes is one of the two, are you the other?”</p><p>Sarah shook her head.  “Keturah’s the other one.  I use carponus e donadi, a concept called ‘what would Jesus do,’ a few Hylden scientist rules, the biggest being ‘just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should,’ and bits that I picked up elsewhere.”</p><p>Moebius scoffed.  “A vampire trying to act like a man of peace and healing.”</p><p>“I’m not the only one who is in an inconvenient vessel, but I try my best when I’m in Guardian mode,” Sarah said.  “Besides, Jesus resorted to violence at least once before he became a martyr.  Sometimes it’s preferable to think about what he would do and then do something else.  There’s also times when the answer is that he’d perform a miracle.”</p><p>“Do you ever wish you could go back to Earth?” Moebius asked.  “It sounds idyllic.” </p><p>“There’s nothing for me there.  It’s not like I can just step back into my old life.  The best I can do is leap into a furnace and hope that the Christians were wrong about the afterlife.  Besides, my home is a large country that seems intent on burning itself to the ground, and it’s a good thing because it’s killing the rest of the planet,” Sarah said.  “Here I can be part of a rebuilding.  I’ve even gained peace with the idea that I might die before the squid does, and it used to terrify me.”</p><p>“If you end up having to mind-control me without my permission, could you make it so that I’m not afraid?” Moebius asked.  “Even if I knew what it was from the beginning, I would have been willing to serve it in exchange for resurrection.”</p><p>“I’ll do my best.  That is something I’m willing to give even if you don’t deserve it,” Sarah said.  “Somehow, people from my world knew what happened in a version of here where I wasn’t there to save Janos.  You would not have lasted more than a day beyond the Pillars if the story was true, and it was a bad death.”</p><p>“And the one that I am going to?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“Over in an instant.  You didn’t make a sound,” Sarah said.</p>
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<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Can you tell me more about the deeds of Fred Rogers?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“May I just show you?” Sarah asked.</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ftbjo5XdZU">Sarah projected the image into Moebius’ mind.</a> Mr. Rogers was soaking his feet in his yard. A black police officer came into the frame and Mr. Rogers invited him to soak his feet as well. They chatted about nothing for a minute, and then the police officer left.</p><p>“What was he?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“Human,” Sarah said. “Instead of vempari and Hylden, we only have humans. The only difference is how much pigment they have in their skin. Mr. Rogers has ancestors from Europe while Officer Clemmons has ancestors from Africa.”</p><p>“And simply soaking their feet was a powerful act?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“Dark people were falsely seen as unclean, carriers of disease. There were pools were people could swim, but dark people weren’t allowed to use the same ones as light people. That is not the only example, but many light people treated dark people like the vampires treated you,” Sarah said. “That simple act must have angered so many people.”</p><p>“You don’t know?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“It was a generation or so before me,” Sarah said. “Stories about it focus on how he helped make things better. They both got old. Attacking Mr. Rogers would have been seen as a monstrous act, and attacking his friend would also have been bad for them.”</p><p>“I don’t feel well,” Moebius said.</p><p>“I think I might have accidentally overwhelmed you,” Sarah said. “Do you want me to leave?”</p><p>Moebius shook his head. “If you don’t mind, I would like to poke at the problems of you being a Guardian.”</p><p>“As long as you agree to change the subject if I ask,” Sarah said.</p><p>“Can you talk about the geas?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“A little, but the problem is being dealt with one way or another. We simply haven’t finished discussing it, but since it hasn’t destroyed us yet, I doubt that it is urgent enough to be hasty,” Sarah said.</p><p>“The other matter is your fitness to keep serving your Pillar,” Moebius said.</p><p>“Archimedes and I discussed it years ago and I know there’s something wrong,” Sarah said. “Thanks to Raziel, removing me will be simple. Dying doesn’t even hurt for me if it’s done mercifully. I’m willing to be replaced and hopefully he or she will be a vempari because I don’t think it’s wise to curse certain Guardians and Mind would be the worst.”</p><p>“You’re willing to give up your powers?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“I won’t lose much. Telepathy is my Dark Gift,” Sarah said. “I could probably still handle most of my duties until my successor is ready, and then I am willing to be a servant.”</p><p>“You would still retain the knowledge,” Moebius said.</p><p>“Did the Nature Guardians mess with the weather much?” Sarah asked.</p><p>Moebius shook his head. “They said that they didn’t want to because of how hard it was.”</p><p>“My Pillar gave me nothing but enhanced abilities. I just assumed Finneas was the same when I told him not to mess with the weather, but he said that controlling the weather would be easy. He wasn’t intending to, but he created a bad storm and it kept getting worse until Kain started talking him through it.”</p><p>“Kain understood more about the weather than the Nature Guardian?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“It’s a Balance problem,” Sarah said. “Sorry, context. On my world, there’s so little magic that believing in it is considered a superstition. The word is starting to mean ‘we don’t understand how it works yet.’ I’m pretty sure that all the fortune-tellers there can’t accurately predict anything that isn’t obvious if examined. People there are obsessed with understanding everything, including how to predict the weather. So they measure the complex system, make extrapolations, and can give pretty accurate odds on whether or not it will rain. They have an explanation for why burning forests to create farmland causes a drought on the other side of the world.”</p><p>Moebius held up a hand, “You’ve put it enough into my realm that I think I understand. It was not controlling the weather that was hard, it was… I hate trying to put into words.”</p><p>“They would have had to pay attention to the entire system if they didn’t want to cause a problem,” Sarah said. “Vempari have over thirty words for wind, some of them are an entire sentence in English if translated properly.”</p><p>Moebius nodded. “So none of you have the proper instincts.”</p><p>“Save for Kain and Archimedes, possibly,” Sarah said. “Please don’t offer advice. I think I know what you would say anyway. We don’t need you mucking it up.”</p><p>“Was disrupting the weather the only mistake that happened?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“Bavol nearly killed himself while acting as a lightning rod during the storm,” Sarah said. “I made the biggest mistake out of the current Guardians, but it had nothing to do with Mind. I was creating pandemonium in an attempt to out-maneuver Kain, and fortunately he keeps getting better about letting us stand up to him. Keturah summoned something she shouldn’t have, and I yelled at her for what she was planning to do next, but it fell more to Nature than Dimension. You can’t just move animals from one biome to another and expect nothing bad to happen because that’s a complex system too.”</p><p>“You’re aware of Azimuth?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“Only what she was doing in the end,” Sarah said. “She set demons lose in Avernus and time-napped Turel.”</p><p>“Since you disapprove of us using our powers for fun, you should know that she was a fickle bitch who enjoyed the suffering she inflicted with her pets, even before Ariel’s death,” Moebius said.</p><p>“Fun is fine as long as no one is getting hurt, but we would have more problems if we treat our powers as playthings,” Sarah said. “I get a kick out of seeing people happy.”</p><p>“Even good intentions can go wrong,” Moebius said.</p><p>“Every mistake we made was with good intentions,” Sarah said. “I know I’m not as good as I should be, and that’s why I try to be careful. It’s amazing how many people I can help just by talking.”</p><p>Moebius frowned. “You talk.”</p><p>“Most people don’t feel the probe, so I can look at their problems from the inside, but mostly I try to find ways to fix them from the outside. We were able to steal more knowledge from my world than what I came with, and the people on Earth have generations of experience trying to fix people just by talking,” Sarah said. “I would have bet against you being surprised at the power of words.”</p><p>“What are you trying to do to me?” Moebius asked.</p><p>Sarah gave him a studious look. “Actually, I’m mostly following your lead, but you’re headed in a very interesting direction.”</p><p>“Get out!”</p>
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<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Archimedes and Catullus entered Moebius’ cage.  Archimedes said, “Remember that I expect you to be civil to my brother.”</p><p>“I was led to believe that patrabsit is not an impolite word,” Moebius said.  “I will not hold the sins of your father against you.”</p><p>Catullus nodded in acknowledgment.</p><p>Archimedes said, “I got a message that you wanted to hear about carponus e donadi from me.”</p><p>Moebius scowled.  “Tell me everything.  That fiend is trying to best me at my own game and I need all of the tools I can get.”</p><p>“Doesn’t feel nice, does it?” Archimedes asked.</p><p>“I haven’t had this much fun in a long time,” Moebius said.</p><p>“Your reason for learning about carponus e donadi is disappointing, but if that’s what you want, I am still willing to teach you.”  Archimedes explained the vempari concepts of duty and selflessness, answering questions as needed.  The principles guided vempari into making personal sacrifices for the greater good.</p><p>“It makes me sad to think of what you could have if they hadn’t made you unwilling to take it,” Moebius said.  “Still, I suppose it allows you to ask your brother to be a willing pawn.”</p><p>“Carponus e donadi is more of a lose guideline for him,” Archimedes said.  “A good person will still align with the more basic parts.”</p><p>Moebius frowned as he thought.  “Archimedes…  I fear that you may have to use him and if he ever figures it out…”  He blinked.</p><p>“Thank you for making it easy for me to keep him from hearing that, but he heard that,” Archimedes said.  “I have already hurt him badly and I should have lost him.  I couldn’t not tell him, not offer him a choice.”</p><p>“And if he had made the wrong one?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“Keeping him from getting hurt anyway would have been more difficult, possibly beyond my abilities,” Archimedes said.  “I could have adjusted my plans to work without him, but he is a promoted pawn and he’s doing it willingly.”</p><p>“You didn’t lose a bet.  He smiled because he’s fulfilling his purpose,” Moebius said.</p><p>Catullus twitched his wings, hitting Archimedes lightly on the back.</p><p>“Speak slowly, pause between sentences and stop if I tell you to,” Archimedes said.</p><p>“Yes, I do have a purpose.  If he hadn’t arranged for me to be forged into something different than my ancestors, I probably would have been happy in living not for myself.  But if I hadn’t been changed first, I probably would have thought the notion of what he wanted me to do to be quaint.  I am angry at all of it, especially that there is a problem and someone needs to fix it.  I am willing to be that someone, but out of anger instead of duty.”  Catullus paused as he felt Archimedes grab his wrist.</p><p>“You’re making him nervous.  Unclench your talons, fold your wings, breathe and relax.”  Archimedes turned to Moebius.  “Are you okay?”</p><p>Moebius shook his head.  “Please send him away.”</p><p>“I’ll be right out,” Archimedes told Catullus as he ushered his brother toward the door.  “Are we done here, or do you have more to say?  I don’t want to be alone with you for too long, but I’m willing to call Sarah.”</p><p>“I think I have more to say to you, but can I send for you when I’m ready?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“He reminded you of bad things, didn’t he?”  At Moebius’ nod, Archimedes said.  “I was so focused on what he was saying that I forgot to check body language, both his and yours.  I won’t bring him back here.  I’ll make sure he understands that it’s not personal.”</p><p> </p><p>It was the middle of the next night when Moebius had Sarah called to him.</p><p>He was huddled in the corner, and his face twisted in rage when he saw Sarah, “I’m having nightmares.”</p><p>“I should have asked about that sooner.  I’m willing to try and help,” Sarah said.</p><p>“One of your predecessors stopped my nightmares long ago.  You did something,” Moebius spat.</p><p>“Not intentionally,” Sarah said.  “I’m saying this as Mind Guardian to person in need, I am willing to help.  I will do my best not to hurt you.”</p><p>Moebius nodded, and Sarah entered his mindscape.  He glanced around in confusion and asked, “What is this?”</p><p>“I should have explained, but I was acting out of habit.  I’m used to working on Archimedes and I have him be aware of exactly what I’m doing.  I’ll try to remember that you don’t know how to help, but I think having you come along might be educational.”</p><p>“How is a Time Guardian supposed to understand Mind?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“My Dark Gift can be controlled by other people, so I let Archimedes play with it as a child.  I figured that learning to control my power would help him control his own when he was confirmed.  Turns out that it comes in handy.  Sometimes he has to push me in directions I can’t go myself,” Sarah said.  “Look.”</p><p>What was really happening could only be described in metaphor, but Moebius could see his thoughts connected like an incredibly complex web.  “It’s like a model of Time.”</p><p>Sarah led Moebius through the mindscape, doubling-back a few times.  Eventually she came to a fork and said, “I feel something bad that way.  Are there more than two connections here?”</p><p>Moebius gave Sarah a light shove, and her perspective changed to show a fork that was ninety degrees in the forth dimension.</p><p>“Aha.  You’re a natural,” Sarah said.</p><p>“It’s almost a shame that your predecessors were repulsed by this,” Moebius said.  “Almost.  I preferred having privacy and they didn’t feel it applied to them.”</p><p>“Probing your mind when you got here was something I only did after the others acknowledged that it was wrong,” Sarah said.</p><p>“There is such a thing as necessary evil,” Moebius said.  “Unless you don’t think that forcing me into a specific death isn’t evil.”</p><p>“You will not sway me, and you definitely won’t sway Kain,” Sarah said.</p><p>“You’re dodging the question,” Moebius said.</p><p>“Because I don’t know how to answer it.  The best I can do is tell you the story of a pegasus that tried to stop winter from happening because it would cause her pet turtle to go into hibernation.” Sarah said.  “If you were in my place, what would your answer be?”</p><p>“You need to do what you need to do, right or wrong is second only to that,” Moebius said.  “You’re right here, you could easily force me against my will right now.”</p><p>“I thought you gave approval for me to play with you when you told Archimedes that you wanted to play the game one last time.  Or did you expect to play with me without me playing back?”  Sarah stopped and pointed in two different directions, and Moebius changed her perspective again.</p><p>“You are a worthy opponent.  The thought that you might somehow best me is exhilarating,” Moebius said.</p><p>“Sometimes I think I’m being a bit too rough, but part of me is having fun,” Sarah said.  “However, it’s time to put the game on hold.  We’re here and you don’t want to antagonize me while I’m working.”</p>
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<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The smell of blood, death, and fear permeated the air.  The way forward was blocked by a net made from chains, and the symbol of the Mind Guardian adorned the links.  Behind the chains, three figures tormented a child who begged them to stop.</p><p>“Tell them to pick on someone their own size,” Sarah said.</p><p>“What?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“It is a shame I cannot have words with whoever thought that simply containing the nightmares was good enough, but maybe it’s all they could do,” Sarah said.  “Yell at those thugs, tell them that they shouldn’t torment those that are weaker.  Say whatever you like, but don’t just let them do that.”</p><p>“Hey!  Leave him alone!” Moebius yelled.</p><p>The three figures slowly turned towards Moebius, and suddenly they were against the net and rattling it.  Moebius backed up.</p><p>“It will hold.”  Sarah summoned a torch.  “Now burn them.  They deserve it.”</p><p>Moebius snarled and shoved the torch against Vorador’s chest.  He screeched like an animal and recoiled, but came back at the net.  Moebius then did the same to Finneas and Randalf.  “I need water.”</p><p>“Everything you could want is in your pocket dimension,” Sarah said.</p><p>Moebius summoned a bucket of water and threw it in the vampires’ faces.  Their skin melted down to the bone, but still they were alive.  Moebius then summoned a playing card and released it.  It broke into five layers and flew at the vampires.  Randalf’s body warped and exploded in a shower of flesh.  Vorador melted into a puddle of stinking viscera.  Finneas was ripped apart by three spinning blades.</p><p>Moebius leered at the remains.  Then he noticed the child approaching the net.  Moebius awkwardly reached through the spaces in the net and hugged the child.  “Oh Bridenal, I wish that I could have actually saved you.”</p><p>Bridenal relaxed into the embrace before he startled and drew away.  There was the sound of a vampiric foot-talon scuffing against stone.  Janos stepped out of the shadows behind the net.</p><p>“Do you see what I did to your creations, monster?” Moebius asked.  “Killing you would have been my greatest triumph.”</p><p>Janos came up to the net, and then simply passed right through it.</p><p>“Stay away!”  Moebius backed up in fear.</p><p>“Use your staff,” Sarah said from behind him.  “What he did to you was the opposite of what he should have.  He was arrogant enough to think that he was somehow divine and could never see that he was wrong.”</p><p>Moebius summoned his staff, and Janos collapsed.  “I hated waiting until I could end you.  I hope that the gardens we planted outside of your home brought you pain.  I’m glad that you escaping justice ended with destroying your mind.  I want to kill you slowly, but my hands are full.”</p><p>“Allow me, Lord Moebius.”  It was an image of the Sarafan Raziel.</p><p>“Yes.”  Moebius grinned.  “Make him suffer as much as you can.”</p><p>The air was filled with Janos’ screams for several minutes, and then the image of Raziel ripped out his heart.  Moebius was still smiling when he turned to Sarah, but then his jaw dropped in surprise.</p><p>The vampire was still there, but lying facedown on the floor and twitching in pain.  Sitting on top of her was a human with blonde hair and blue eyes.  “I was put into his care for the few days that I was here before being turned.  He was condescending, and he fed in front of me, but otherwise he did not treat me badly.  He didn’t hate humans, even though they were lynching vampires on his doorstep.  I apologize for robbing you of your vengeance, but I don’t condone it even after what he did to you.  I don’t condone his actions, either.”</p><p>“Are you free of the geas right now?”  Moebius asked.  “Does the human still defend him?”</p><p>Sarah nodded and pointed to the Sarafan.  “It’s his fault that I’m a vampire.  He stabbed me and it got infected.  I had to beg to be cursed.  Janos said I was too young, and he tried to read me scriptures of the Wheel to ease my mind.  I couldn’t tell him that I knew what it really was.  I’m not angry that he almost let me die.  I also forgave Raziel without so much as an apology.”</p><p>Moebius shook his head.  “I cannot forgive the vampires.”</p><p>“As you wish, but it feels good,” Sarah said.  “Let Bridenal have your staff.  Hopefully it will be a comfort.”</p><p>As the staff’s paralyzing effects faded, the vampire version of Sarah started twitching.  The human version dove into her and the vampire stood up.</p><p>“I don’t suppose something could actually be done about your big brother,” Moebius said.</p><p>Sarah shook her head.  “I think it was Jesus who said that if we keep taking an eye for an eye, the entire world would go blind.  I will tell them that the rebellion and the Sarafan crusades were partly their fault… and remind them how much it hurt Janos.  I’m not going to tell Archimedes what they did just yet.  It would make our internal politics too interesting.”</p><p>“Interesting?”  Moebius asked.</p><p>“He has to work with Finneas unless we decide to remove him,” Sarah said.  “Part of the reason Janos was free to attack you was that Archimedes was afraid to say anything.  He would have been accused of having a grudge.  Fortunately, it turns out that Janos isn’t actually needed.”</p><p>“I do thank you for the illusion that they have been dealt with,” Moebius said.</p><p>There was the scuff of a hoof on stone, and Kain appeared on the outside of the net.  Moebius turned to the image of Sarafan Raziel.  “Kill him.”</p><p>After they emerged from the mindscape, Moebius said.  “I am grateful for the help, especially if it worked, but it is time to get back to the game.  I do want to speak with Archimedes some more, and even if his brother didn’t remind me of Janos, I don’t think it’s something that should be discussed in front of him.”</p><p>“Try to get some sleep,” Sarah said.  “Archimedes won’t be up for hours and he’s grumpy before noon</p>
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<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Chapter 17</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was the next day, and Sarah and Archimedes entered Moebius’ cell.</p><p>“Did you sleep well?” Sarah asked.</p><p>Moebius nodded.  “I have never felt so rested.  Phoebe did an adequate job, but what you did was amazing.”</p><p>Sarah snorted.  “What a cloud-cuckoo-lander name.”</p><p>“Don’t make fun, especially after you decided to get cute with mine,” Archimedes said.</p><p>“This is a story I want to hear,” Moebius said.</p><p>“He’s named that because he’s named that.  It was a loop, I swear,” Sarah said.</p><p>“There was a mathematician on her world named Möbius, so she decided to name me after a mathematician too,” Archimedes said.</p><p>“I thought you couldn’t see outside of the loops,” Sarah said.  “It could have been Merlin’s pet owl.”</p><p>“Usually I can’t, or it’s just not worth the effort,” Archimedes said.  “I used the wikipedia archive and being named after the owl is even dumber.”</p><p>“As much as I’m loving this banter…” Moebius became serious.  “I am concerned about carponus e donadi.  Catullus doesn’t actually follow it, but you’re able to use him as a willing pawn.  The way he was acting… I have seen that expression on many of my own men.  It was tragic for them that I did not care how many I sacrificed.”</p><p>Archimedes shook his head.  “I made him into the sort of person who would do what needed to be done and let him loose.  I did not expect him to forgive me and I won’t manipulate him again… except by asking politely.  At least now I can directly warn him about dangers if need be.  He is more valuable as a teacher to the teacher of a martyr than as a martyr himself.”</p><p>“Why did he forgive you?” Moebius asked.</p><p>Archimedes looked at Sarah, and she said.  “I just told him a little bit about why you were hurting and not to go to you unless he was ready to forgive you.”</p><p>Moebius frowned.  “My words were never that powerful.”</p><p>“You don’t have a natural talent for knowing where to push,” Sarah said.</p><p>“And you do, especially when you claim that your Pillar didn’t give you any knowledge,” Moebius said.</p><p>Sarah shook her head.  “No.  Have you ever met someone who continued to be rude no matter how much people shunned him?”</p><p>“They don’t last long in the field, but they are superior quartermasters,” Moebius said.</p><p>“It’s not really an affliction, but the condition is common among Hylden as well,” Sarah said.  “I don’t have the basic instinct for getting along with people, but I had to learn just to function in my world, and the only guidance I got was punishment for not behaving properly.  I managed to get it into a seamless habit, but it took a lot of conscious effort when I was a child.  At least being atypical usually comes with being a bit extra in analytical abilities.”</p><p>“The predilection for honesty fits,” Moebius said, “but you don’t act like the quartermasters.”</p><p>“Girls are better at figuring out the social stuff,” Sarah said.  “The sad part is that an honest person is forced to pretend to be someone they are not until the façade becomes permanent.”</p><p>“You’re never not playing the game.  I’m curious to see how this ends.”  Moebius turned back to Archimedes.  “There is another troubling thing about carponus e donadi.  Catullus talked about purpose as if you aren’t supposed to live for yourself.”</p><p>“It’s a sore spot for him.  I do protect myself even if it interferes with some of the things I need to do,” Archimedes said.</p><p>“Such as being accused of having a grudge,” Moebius said.  “You said that you have little to be happy about.”</p><p>“I may have the mind of an adult, but I’m still a teenager with a biology that’s going haywire,” Archimedes said.  “There are just a lot of things to manage right now and Kain makes it hard.”</p><p>“They have made you into a better person than me, and Kain should be made to understand that.  But perhaps you are too good.  Things shouldn’t be so hard that you ask for a vacation,” Moebius said.  “My other criticism is that they brought you into the fold at such a young age.”</p><p>“It’s my fault.  I let a child make a choice with permanent consequences,” Sarah said.</p><p>“I would have sent a note,” Archimedes said.  “I was too young, but it was my decision.  All of my regrets are selfish.”</p><p>“A little selfishness is a good thing,” Moebius said.  “I have seen benefactors exhaust themselves.”</p><p>“Do not try to pervert me,” Archimedes said.</p><p>“Sarah’s ability to navigate a mind like ours speaks of much practice.  How often do you need her help?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“That’s none of your business,” Archimedes said.</p><p>“Very few people can barely comprehend what it’s like to be you,” Moebius said.  “I say this as a person to a person, you need to make sure you’re taking adequate care of yourself.”</p><p>Sarah telepathically whispered, “I do have to work on you regularly.  I’m willing to do it, but I’m concerned that one day you will break beyond my abilities to put you back together.  I would rather that you be a bit more selfish.”</p><p>“You’re taking his side?” Archimedes asked.</p><p>“I could check, but I’m willing to believe that he’s being genuine,” Sarah said.  “It’s nothing that we haven’t been trying to tell you.”</p><p>“Archimedes, consider it your duty to remain healthy.  Benefactors who push beyond their limits often become cruel,” Moebius said.</p><p>“Did you do that on purpose?” Sarah asked.  “You’re describing nefasrum.”</p><p>“I’ve heard the word,” Moebius said.  “From what I could work out, the vampires were suffering because they could no longer hear the Wheel.”</p><p>“Ozker told us it means losing faith,” Archimedes said.</p><p>“He probably felt that it wasn’t important to go into with you,” Sarah said.  “It was considered a spiritual sickness, a deep wrongness.  Asking God too many questions or not trusting the answers was part of it, but some of the things they described were simply becoming a bad person.  Not caring about the pain of others was a symptom.”</p><p>Archimedes glared at Moebius.</p><p>Moebius said, “I didn’t know.  The parasite even encouraged me to have no pity.”</p><p>“That thing is perfectly capable of talking to people who have been cursed.  It even tried to get ahold of me once and I was tempted,” Sarah said.  “Vempari feel pleasure from being good, I don’t know if it’s nature or nurture.  Nefasrum as an instrument of control would hook easily into it.  Different snares for different prey.”</p><p>“Can you check?” Archimedes asked.</p><p>Sarah turned to Moebius and raised her eyebrows in question.  He nodded his consent.</p><p>Sarah said, “What he was saying about exhausted benefactors becoming cruel came from observation, not the squid.”</p><p>“I will think about it,” Archimedes said.</p>
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<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Chapter 18</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Can you stay for an informal chat?” Moebius asked.  “I was usually content with loneliness, but lately it troubles me.”</p><p>Sarah said, “I’m willing to stay.  In the Eternal Prison, the inmates were kept isolated with no one to talk to, and I think it was the most horrible torture possible for humans.”</p><p>“I don’t want to be played with,” Archimedes said.</p><p>“I will try to keep it civil,” Moebius said.  “I’m curious about how much you were able to explain to Sarah about Time.  Do you have words to describe the concepts?”</p><p>“We usually Darmok it,” Sarah said.</p><p>Archimedes laughed.  “Darmok is a Darmok.  It wasn’t so much that I explained things to her.  Some of the stories from her world were speculative fiction about how time works, and I can use those as a starting point.  Darmok means that we can mention part of a story we both know to make up for the lack of a proper word.”</p><p>“So ordinary people were able to give a correct explanation?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“Throw out enough theories and one of them is bound to be correct, the Terran expression got shortened to ‘infinite monkeys,’” Archimedes said.  “One of my favorite bits of story is that a character like us was trying to explain Time.  He said ‘People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff.’  The person he was telling it to said that it sounded like the sentence got away from him and he agreed in a change-of-subject tone.”</p><p>Moebius stared in shock.  “If people on her world are aware of us, maybe they’re aware of other places that are real.”</p><p>“I believe it acts more like divine inspiration.  I can’t think about it too much or else I might have an existential crisis,” Sarah said.  “I prefer to think of things that are presented as fiction to be fiction unless otherwise proven.  The practical points of getting to those worlds are limited even if it is possible, and just because this world survived me giving it an atomic wedgie doesn’t mean it would be good for other worlds.  I hate to think about the looting we committed on Earth, specifically the people who couldn’t explain it away by calling it a hoax.”</p><p>Moebius considered.  “Does time travel exist on your world?”</p><p>“There is a…” Sarah frowned at not having the word.  “Daegalum.”</p><p>Archimedes volunteered, “It loosely means ‘wind that will kill you unless you surrender to its mercy and might kill you anyway.’  I don’t know what she’s trying to go for.”</p><p>Sarah began again.  “If someone invents time travel, they are expected to go back and kill Hitler.  He died by suicide towards the end of the war he started.  He survived a ridiculous number of assassination attempts, but that was after he deserved it.”</p><p>“Nothing before that?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“When he was a soldier in the first world war, someone who didn’t know what he would become had a clean shot, but didn’t take it.  I don’t know enough to figure out the reason, but I think it was between skirmishes and there was some sort of opposing-soldier respect,” Sarah said.  “As for anything else that almost happened, I haven’t heard about it.  Killing him before he committed the crime is a philosophical debate that I get hung up on, though I like the idea of just pulling at the Jenga-blocks so that he’s not inspired.”</p><p>“What if pre-killing someone doesn’t become theoretical?” Moebius asked.  “You would be the perfect tool.”</p><p>“If Archimedes asks from the title, we’d probably dicker about it a bit before I shut up and do what I’m told.  I can step from Guardian to servant and back again.  What we are can be above who we are, and I can be a weapon without harming my ability to be someone of compassion,” Sarah said.  “In my old job, I had to understand enough about the lawyers’ game to be used in it, even though it was the least-fun part of what I did.  I was a truthfinder specializing in murder and their tactic for me was usually ‘are you sure you did your job properly’ and I had to very calmly explain the steps I took.”  Sarah favored Moebius with a wicked grin.  “There are punishments for attempted crime, and they’re lighter than committing the crime, but planning a crime is not against the law.  It gets very murky when someone has gathered the tools for the plan.”</p><p>“I was trying to hit a nerve when I attacked your Guardianship, and I’m not sure that I can give you a sincere apology.  You are both insufficient and more than capable.  To know that you had previous experience with that sort of tactic, I’m not sure what to make of it,” Moebius said.</p><p>“My team-mates and I would blow off steam by saying nasty things about the lawyers behind their backs,” Sarah said.  “At least the rules in our game don’t say I have to be calm about it.”</p><p>“As far as pre-killing, you already know my opinion on the matter from my comment about barbers.”  Moebius turned to Archimedes.  “Perhaps you should change the subject unless you want to volunteer your thoughts.”</p><p>“Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure is another fun story about time,” Archimedes said.  “But if you want to play the game, ask her why trying to pre-kill Hitler is considered something like a sacred duty.”</p><p>“Archimedes!”  Sarah said.  “You seriously want me to try hitting him right between the eyes?  He deserves it if he ends up curled on the floor and sobbing in front of you, but I’m not sure what that would do to you.  It would either be very good or very bad.”</p><p>“Unless you give me a good reason not to, I’d do it myself,” Archimedes said.  “It’s his fault that Kain abused me.  I know that I prevented most of it from actually happening, but I still remember.”</p><p>“Even though you forgive instead of revenge, you can’t expect Archimedes to,” Moebius said.  “I’m also curious to see what you can do when you’re not holding back.”</p><p>“The abuse happened even if Kain doesn’t remember doing it,” Sarah said.  “I’m sorry that calling my shot softens the blow.  Hitler is the most evil man in the living memory of my world, but I’ll start with the context.”</p><p>“I call Christianity a cult, but it is one of the largest religions on Earth.  The religion that Jesus grew up in was Judaism and a follower is called a Jew.  Currently, Jews are people who believe that Jesus wasn’t the messiah, and so instead of accepting the reforms he brought, they continued to live as they had.  The Jews did not take issue with Christianity, but they were often segregated from the Christians.  They have rules about food that make it difficult to accept the hospitality of an outsider.  They also weren’t allowed to have everything that the Christians did, but a loophole in a taboo made them useful.  Sometimes the Christians would take issue with them and call them wicked.  For example, some of the religious practices of the Jews made them more resistant to disease, and it made people suspect that they were somehow causing plagues.  However, Jews tend to act like good people.”</p><p>“Hitler started the second world war, and while the Jews weren’t the main focus, they were considered a threat to the German way of life.  The Jews weren’t doing anything that anyone should have been afraid of.  Hitler had a way with words, and after inspiring hatred slowly, he whipped the Germans into a frenzy.  The Germans do not deny what happened even though they are embarrassed.  Many undesirable groups were rounded up and put into camps, but the Jews were chief among them.  They were brought to the camps in trains meant for the transport of cattle, and once there they were shaven and stripped.  They were killed in the most painful ways that Hitler and his Nazis could think of and their bodies were desecrated.  One of the methods was exposure; forcing them to march naked in the snow until they succumbed to the cold.  Hitler had spent at least a winter without shelter to sleep in, so he knew exactly how cruel he was being.”</p><p>Tears streamed down Moebius’ face.  “Stop, I beg you.”</p><p>“We will now leave you alone with your thoughts for a while,” Sarah said.  “Hitler also became a vegetarian.”</p>
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<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Chapter 19</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When they were clear of Moebius’ prison, Sarah asked, “How do you feel?  I won’t criticize you for an honest answer.”</p><p>Archimedes frowned.  “I don’t know.  I thought hurting him would feel good, but there's… nothing?”</p><p>“I treated his nightmares with a revenge-fantasy against Janos,” Sarah said.  “He enjoyed it, but he’s wicked and you’re not.  I’m sorry if guiding you into not feeling good about revenge was the wrong thing.”</p><p>Archimedes shook his head.  “I’ll remember this.  I doubt that I’ll act in vengeance again.  If I destroy anyone who wrongs me, it will be about justice and need.”</p><p>Sarah nodded.  “Once he is dealt with, try thinking about forgiving him for your own sake.  Anger is like a hot ember; you burn yourself by holding onto it.”</p><p>“Is it wrong that Catullus is driven to his purpose by anger?” Archimedes asked.</p><p>“That is a different thing,” Sarah said.  “Fire is creation as well as destruction, and Catullus will not be burned if he stays in control.”</p><p>“Do you think that Moebius is broken?” Archimedes asked.</p><p>“Possibly,” Sarah said.  “When he begged me to stop, I was running out of things to say anyway.  I was worried that he wouldn’t be affected by the parallels between himself and the most evil man of my world.  There is also an uncomfortable thought about it if we are to treat his actions as simple fiction from my world.”</p><p>“What is that?” Archimedes asked.</p><p>“Vampires are very different from Jews.  Humans defending themselves from vampires is justifiable, but to suggest that about the Jews… If the developers didn’t know that they were telling a real story, I hope it was an oversight and not intentional.” Sarah said.</p><p> </p><p>It was a disappointingly short amount of time before Moebius had a message for Sarah and Archimedes again.  </p><p>“I’m sorry, the parallels with Hitler did hurt me, but there’s one important detail that makes it meaningless.  I hope that you still find satisfaction in a temporary revenge,” Moebius said.</p><p>“There was no satisfaction.  I will not seek revenge again,” Archimedes said.  “What detail did you discover?”</p><p>Moebius pointed to Sarah.  “Vampires drink blood.  During my time, their kind killed hundreds every month.  I’m told that there is a cure for the curse and only one vampire has volunteered to take it.  It’s only a matter of time before the non-lethal system breaks down, and then humans will be prey again.  You will have to choose between letting it happen and eliminating the threat.”</p><p>Archimedes said, “I don’t know for sure, so you can’t possibly know either.  I will wait until I can see it happening and make my decision based on all of the information.  There is a substitute for blood, and perhaps in time we can get more vampires to stop drinking blood.”</p><p>“I’ve smelled that substitute,” Moebius said.  “That any vampires use it is a miracle.”</p><p>“Actually, what you smelled was bad ale and ammonia, but the way you reacted is typical to how most vampires see it,” Sarah said.  “Vimputu won’t hurt you if you want to taste it, but human is actually an ingredient.”</p><p>Moebius shook his head.  “It doesn’t matter how it tastes if vampires won’t drink it.  You’re unnecessary.”</p><p>“I do have a defense for keeping vampires in the world.”  Sarah sat down.  “In my world, not every place is hospitable or has enough resources for humans to live.  In some places, there are up to one hundred homes stacked on top of one another.  You’re aware of selective breeding?  There are lions, tigers, bears, other things that might prey on humans, but when one attacks, the problem-animal is removed and the rest left alone.  There are still opportunistic individuals, but mostly the predators would rather go after something else.  There is still famine, war, disease, other causes of death, but the Terrans’ ability to keep them in check is stronger than those forces and the population keeps growing.  The smarter people react to overpopulation by not having families, but the stupid ones keep popping them out.  Selective breeding means that the general intelligence is going down.  Overpopulation is one of the main dangers, especially when the system is so strained that it might already be beyond the verge of collapse.  Only a few leaders have the will to enforce control on the population.”</p><p>“How very poetic,” Moebius said.  “You think that you can justify vampirism as a positive thing.”</p><p>“Individual vampires are being killed if they cause problems,” Archimedes said.  “Perhaps the ones who are left will be capable of behaving themselves.”</p><p>Moebius pulled his hand out from under the table, showing that he had been bleeding from the wrist for about a minute.  Sluggish drops spattered on the table.  “I don’t think that they’re able to control themselves at all.”</p><p>Sarah stood and stared at Moebius’ wrist.  He gave a self-satisfied grin.  Sarah reached for his wrist and he offered it.  Sarah then summoned a cloth from her pocket-dimension and applied pressure on the wound.  Moebius frowned in confusion as Sarah began reciting part of a poem.</p><p>The oath I solemnly do take,<br/>Because there is so much at stake,<br/>Avoid the red stuff we know we must!<br/>Or else be turning us to dust.<br/>Live not in vein!</p><p>Moebius pulled his wrist away, but let Sarah hand him the cloth so he could keep pressure on the wound.  “Why did you make me think that you still drank blood?”</p><p>“Because it was hilarious to watch you antagonize me over it,” Sarah said.  “I don’t take abstinence as seriously as the vampires from that book, but I rarely touch the real stuff.  Unfortunately, vimputu is bland and your little stunt is giving me a craving.  You’re mostly safe because I’m convinced you’ve managed to make your blood poisonous somehow.”</p><p>“There isn’t a way to do that as far as I know,” Moebius said.  “At least not in a way where the person will survive for very long.”</p><p>“Not falling for it, so shut up,” Sarah said.</p><p>Archimedes sighed.  “She smelled it immediately and warned me that you were being cute.  Aren’t you getting tired yet?”</p><p>“I think I still have enough strength to wear her down,” Moebius said.</p><p>“What do you think the score is?” Sarah asked.</p><p>Moebius shook his head.  “Points are for friendly games.”</p><p>“I think the only time you scored was when you said I was afraid to agree with you.  That was before I realized how pathetic at this you really are,” Sarah said.  “Even if you win, you lose anyway.”</p><p>“The only way to lose is to give up,” Moebius said.</p><p>“If you can stop being evil, I’d consider that a noble loss, or maybe a win for both of us.”  Sarah rubbed her wings together as if her spars itched.  “I just realized I don’t like that option any more than mind-controlling him.”</p><p>“Your namesake once said the perfect thing to say about that,” Archimedes said.</p><p>“It’s not fair?” Sarah asked.</p><p>Archimedes shook his head.  “Close.”</p><p>Sarah thought.  “It’s not fair, but that’s the way it is.”</p><p>“Do you really think that you can redeem me?” Moebius asked.</p><p>Sarah shrugged.  “Maybe not completely, but you’ve already made so much progress.”</p>
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<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Chapter 20</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Moebius considered.  “I will not stop fighting you, but if somehow you can redeem me, I do want it.”</p><p>“The game can be used to heal, and the fight makes it easier to find the bad spots,” Sarah said.  “I’ve been playing the game in the healing way for most of the time.”</p><p>“I’m scared,” Moebius said.</p><p>“I think that it’s best that I let you be scared for now,” Sarah said.  “I’m sorry that most of the stories I know have something to teach, or I would be willing to simply distract you for a while.”</p><p>Archimedes said, “I think the story of whiney-Sarah meeting Ludo is hilarious.”</p><p>Sarah nodded.  “In my world, before science was the way we approached understanding, we used nothing but stories.  Jesus taught with stories, children’s entertainment like Mr. Rogers is full of teaching stories, and my namesake immersed herself in stories to try to shield herself from having to grow up.  Her father had remarried, but she didn’t give her stepmother a proper chance to guide her into being a woman because the stepmothers in stories are usually wicked if not murderous.”</p><p>“That Sarah’s obsession with play-acting a story about the Goblin King drew his interest, and lost in her fantasy, she spoke a wish for him to take her baby stepbrother away.  When she realized what she had done, she begged for him to give the baby back, but instead the Goblin King put her to a contest to solve his Labyrinth in thirteen hours.  During her journey, that Sarah met Ludo.”</p><p>“There were creatures in the Labyrinth; some helpful, some less so, some that posed a danger.  Memories get shuffled, but I think she hadn’t met a dangerous creature yet that wasn’t a goblin, and by dangerous I mean scary nuisance.  A pack of goblins had Ludo snared, and they were having fun with him.  He was a great beast with a mighty roar, and I think it’s simpler if you imagine him as a bipedal lion even if his appearance reminds me of an ox.  Curiosity about the noise led her to him, and when she saw what the goblins were doing to Ludo, that Sarah decided to help him.”</p><p>“By throwing rocks, that Sarah tricked the goblins into fighting among themselves, and they chased each other into another part of the Labyrinth.  Then she approached Ludo and calmly talked to him while releasing him from his snare.  There are many fables from my world about lions who need help and repay the kindness, and I’m not sure which one she was thinking of at the time, but she was lucky that Ludo was a creature that went into a thrall at the offer of kindness.  Real lions do not feel an obligation to not eat the person that helps them.”</p><p>“You do realize the irony, don’t you?” Moebius asked.</p><p>Sarah quirked her head at him.  “When Archimedes was a true child, I would use this story as an opportunity to remind him that only vampires should unstake a vampire, even if it’s me.  Being dead is very disorienting, and even I might hurt him before I realize what I’m doing.”</p><p>Moebius shook his head.  “Janos was a predator and you helped him.”</p><p>Sarah turned to Archimedes.  “Did you do that on purpose?”  When he shook his head, Sarah said, “Lady Fortuna, please turn your sight away.”  Then she addressed Moebius.  “The stories from my world about Janos painted him as a pacifist and someone to feel sorry for.  I realize that I was as dumb as my namesake and he might have eaten me if he had a chance before I become the property of the Scion of Balance.  I owe a debt to Dumah because he argued that I should have been taken to you alive.”</p><p>“I’ve never heard someone pray for a deity to leave them alone before,” Moebius said.  “It also pains me to hear that Kain owns you.”</p><p>“Not anymore.  I actually didn’t mind being just a potential tool to him.  He treats things a lot better than people, especially people who don’t kowtow.”  Sarah brushed her wing, her face showing that she was thinking of a memory.  “As for the prayer, non-Christians sometimes pray to Jesus to save them from his followers, but I think it’s a half-joke.  I view Lady Fortuna as either a superstition or a threat, so my prayer was a half-joke.  The pattern is so big that there will be coincidences even for someone who isn’t a strange attractor.”</p><p>“That word you used for irresistible wind sounds a lot like Kain,” Moebius said.</p><p>“Shift feathers if the daegalum decides to slam you into something,” Sarah said.  “What Nupraptor did to him left scars that I’m afraid to mess with from the inside.  There’s no way to tell if he would have been like that anyway since it happened as he was born, but I think he would have been different.  Archimedes did not want to be the catalyst to us being better about standing up to him, but it became a canyon-wind that called for pointing the chest at the sky.  Not letting us stand up to him puts Kain in a very awkward position now.”</p><p>“I’ve never seen a vempari fly upside-down,” Moebius said.</p><p>“It is a lack of control, like leaping, and they don’t like it,” Sarah said.  “True Razielim haven’t been flying for long and I’m rejected for my strangeness, so I don’t know how they feel about it.” </p><p>“The word you were looking for is ‘inevitable’ but it would not connotate that you are speaking from the Timestreamer perspective,” Moebius said.  “I know you’re resistant to me spurring you into action, but what is your opinion on removing Kain?”</p><p>Archimedes shook his head.  “His binding token is his soul.  Even as a necromantic vampire, he can’t be removed without killing him and I have a sourceless conviction that he is needed.”</p><p>“The way the other Guardians behaved under the madness… I’m thankful that my former master shielded me from getting it,” Moebius said.</p><p>“He didn’t,” Sarah said.  “The squid might have been able to keep you from being affected, it might have echoed-back over your life and got diluted, but it was there.  I am not apologizing for not trying to figure out exactly what was going on; I was afraid of getting any on me and it’s gone now.  The scars I saw in you might have been from simple trauma.  Necromantic vampires from the empire inherited it, but I have no idea about what is the corruption’s doing and what’s just vampirism.”</p><p>“If the corruption went backwards, Phoebe should have noticed,” Moebius said.  “As a necromantic vampire, did you have it?”</p><p>Sarah shrugged.  “That thing Kain does to let people see the squid also removes the poison.  I acknowledge that I might not have that as an excuse, or I might have once been infected without being scarred.”</p><p>The Timestreamers began to talk shop.  Archimedes actually managed to confuse Moebius by saying that Sarah experienced time differently than everyone else, but an explanation about how years had less days on Nosgoth, plus a bit about leapyears and daylight savings time cleared up the confusion.  After it wandered into other time-subjects, Moebius turned to Sarah and asked “What do you think?  I can see that you’re able to follow this.”</p><p>“I’m listening to what you are saying instead of what you’re saying,” Sarah said.</p><p>“Are you going to have trouble explaining that?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“I’m willing to try,” Sarah said.  “You know about mundane optical illusions?  Terrans have gotten very good at hacking the connection between seeing and understanding, and children are assaulted from the moment their parents are willing to set them down in front of the television.  It keeps children physically safe, but experts haven’t figured out exactly how it damages them.  It does give Terrans the ability to nope, and that’s why there are things I’m afraid to show either of you because I’m not sure that either of you can nope that well.  I have to nope hard about the years being shorter.”</p><p>Moebius blinked in confusion.  “I think that something got lost in translation.”</p><p>“She’s using some Terran English,” Archimedes supplied.  “The way she’s saying hacking means exploitation of vulnerability.  She told me that she tried to explain television already.  The way she’s using nope means something like flinching rejection.”</p><p>“Nope is how I can handle your minds,” Sarah said.  “The Darmok is untempered schism… Time in a manner I cannot grasp.  I can admire fire without feeling the need to hold it.  The things I won’t show…  OK Go is a group of entertainers who do things just because they can, and it is frightening-amazing.  Archimedes might be able to handle it but I don’t want to take the risk, and you don’t have the right experience so you’re more likely to become too overwhelmed and break in a way I can’t fix.”</p><p>“You’re interested in watching us communicate, not what we’re talking about,” Moebius said.</p><p>Sarah nodded.</p>
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<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Chapter 21</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Moebius was placid as he heard the door to his cell open, but he startled when he saw his visitor.  Kain took a chair and shoved it against the wall before gently settling on it.  The chair gave an ominous creak.  Kain indicated that Moebius should sit as well.</p><p>Moebius perched on the edge of his chair.  “Kain.  To what do I owe the… visit?”</p><p>“My faith in their claims of progress towards breaking you has faltered.  I do not care what you feel as you go to your death, just that you do not cause any more mischief, but try to convince me that the path they are taking will lead to that outcome,” Kain said.</p><p>“Can you please remove your hat?” Moebius asked.  “I mean no offense, but I am having trouble taking you seriously.”</p><p>The sleeve of his shirt billowed as Kain tossed the fedora onto the table.  “They gave me an imperative to be as non-threatening as possible and directed me to dress for the occasion.  I do not intend to cause you pain during this visit, but do not test my patience.”</p><p>“I am very grateful that you’re trying not to scare me,” Moebius said.  “I have been brought to a point where I want redemption, but I am unwilling to stop fighting and it seems that Sarah will have an easier task if I don’t.  I’m not sure if I can find a sincere apology for any action I made, including the pain that I brought to you and your first-made, but Guardian to Guardian, I neglected my duty to bring you to Ariel years before you found her yourself.”</p><p>Kain nodded.  “Your acknowledgement that you might have acted wrongly would be a comfort if I could believe that you’re being honest.”</p><p>“You don’t trust Archimedes either, and that causes problems that I do regret,” Moebius said.  “He is your Time Guardian, but he is a completely different person in all other aspects.  If there is anyone that you can trust, ask them to try and convince you of that at least.”</p><p>Kain scrutinized Moebius.  “You told me that your death would not redeem you, and that you hoped that your next life would.”</p><p>“I do not yet know the details of what you remember, but if Archimedes requires me to put on an act, I accept my obligation to follow his instructions.  I hope you at least understand the necessity of that,” Moebius said.</p><p>“I have yet to find any traps you might have laid,” Kain said.</p><p>Moebius shook his head.  “You have enough problems without me adding to them.  It worries me, but I’m an outsider now and doing more than drawing attention to the existing problems is beyond what is wanted.”</p><p>Kain glared.  “You let a problem happen.”</p><p>“Saying for certain about the hypotheticals is beyond what I can do now.  What led me to not try to change it is something that has been done and it is dangerous to make anything about it be different,” Moebius said.  “Speaking as a person who knows our past dealings, I don’t see us getting anywhere with this discussion.”</p><p>“I want you to indulge me for a bit longer,” Kain said.</p><p>Moebius threw his hands out in a gesture of begrudging surrender.  “I don’t know what else you want me to say.”</p><p>Kain blinked slowly as he considered.  “I concede that they might actually be turning you into someone who would sacrifice himself for the good of the world, and it worries me.  I will demand that Sarah makes sure.”</p><p>Moebius nodded.  “I will let her have what she needs to prove that I am ready, but only when I am ready.  As someone whose choices looked bad from many perspectives, please let me try to be completely willing to do what must be done.”</p><p>Kain’s chair cracked as he stood.  “Your respite is not something that you bought yourself.”</p><p>Moebius gave a nod that could have easily meant ‘servant of an equal’ in the courtly language of Kain’s mortal time.</p><p> </p><p>When Sarah and Archimedes came into Moebius’ cell again, Sarah explained why she did not stop Kain from coming, and Moebius gave acceptance to the necessity.  </p><p>“We’re stumped about what we’re going to do about you,” Archimedes said.</p><p>“Things work out for Sarah, why not let her loose?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“Even if I am the Ruby to his Sapphire, that sort of thing did not work out as intended for Garnet,” Sarah said.  “But what actually happened worked out in an unexpected way.  I think that maybe I could spend some time not trying and see if it leads into a good place.”</p><p>“This is a Darmok?” Moebius asked.  “May I know the context?”</p><p>Sarah explained Steven Universe.  Not just about Garnet, Ruby and Sapphire, but she was going to tell him about all of the other gems including Padparadscha and Spinel.</p><p>But that discussion also had an early interruption by Moebius.  “Do you love Archimedes?”</p><p>“Not romantically.  There is also family love and perhaps I also feel something akin to divine love.  Emotionally I’m his aunt.  If something happens to him, I will be upset, but I hope that I will not do anything about it that will cause regret to the world.  Atypicals often lash out in frustration, but I had control metaphorically beaten into me as a child.”</p><p>Moebius cringed.  “You must hate the people who did that to you.”</p><p>“They didn’t know that I didn’t intend to misbehave,” Sarah said.  “It was abusive, but they thought they were doing the right thing.  There are gentler methods, but I don’t fault them for their ignorance.”</p><p>“Do you forgive Kain for the abuse?” Moebius asked Archimedes.</p><p>Archimedes shook his head.  “I grok it.  Neither of us have read Stranger in a Strange Land, but the concept is something that has become part of Terran culture.  Literally grok means to drink, but it’s about understanding something so deeply that hating it means you hate yourself.  The book is about a boy raised by Martians, and what translates as hate is like calling avisva mistrust.  That’s like saying dislike when you mean hate.”</p><p>Moebius rubbed his temples.  “I accept your inability to avoid teachable moments.  It sounds like there are too many to avoid, but it hurts.”</p><p>“Pain is a part of healing, but putting you through too much is not what I’m going for,” Sarah said.</p><p>Sarah returned to talking about Steven Universe, and the teachable moments did disturb Moebius, but it didn’t become too intense for him to handle.</p>
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<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Chapter 22</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Moebius’ next session with Sarah was supposed to focus on My Little Pony, mostly the Friendship is Magic version.  Speaking as the author, I am leaving out some of the explanations of context about pop culture that I trust American Terrans to know.  Part of what happened was that Sarah gave Moebius the relevant memories by simply showing him when it was appropriate, but she prefers talking over telepathy when dealing with him.  The story got away from me enough that Friendship is Magic had to wait for the next chapter.  I didn’t intend where the conversation wandered before they got properly started.  </p><p>“There is a potential that a developer of Friendship is Magic knew about the story called Legacy of Kain, but I think they were ignorant and just being driven by a pattern.  That world had strong parallels to this one, and I used it to try and comfort Archimedes.  I can use it a bit differently on you,” Sarah said.</p><p>The game that you are playing… I concede that I will be defeated, but I want to keep playing it.” Moebius said.</p><p>“There is a fiction from my world where instead of chess, they play Tak.  I do not know the rules to Tak, just that it shares Chess’ ability for providing admiration to those who understand the rules.  There was a minor character whose focus was more on making the game beautiful than whether he won or lost.  He gave the focus-character an ugly crushing defeat to teach him about his desire for beauty and how he could ugly-win as much as he wanted,” Sarah said.  “You will lose, but I’m letting you choose how it will happen because I’m convinced that it will be beautiful to my artist part.  From before I met him, I was convinced that Raziel needed to be willing to meet his ultimate Destiny to reduce his suffering.”  </p><p>“Is that really why you’re not taking the easy way?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“Having compassion for you is objectively useless.  There is nothing left of you but energy that became a new person.  I don’t need to agree with the cycle of death and rebirth to accept how it is,” Sarah said.  “Not taking the easy way could be considered self-indulgent.  There is no joy in hurting you except for the purpose of healing, and I take my joy from your healing and feel gratitude for the opportunity.”</p><p>“It doesn’t upset me that you managed to find a way to enjoy this,” Moebius said.</p><p>“An expression from my world is that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.  Benefactors enjoy the roller-coaster and nefasrum might come to them from hitting the bottom and being too vertigo to go on more rides,” Sarah said.  “Despite what you did and what will happen to you, I am ignoring that and being happy to help.”</p><p>Moebius described what he was feeling and it translated to being disturbed at Guardians compartmentalizing. </p><p>Sarah said, “Please tell me everything you can.  I can disagree without believing that your Circle intended wrong, especially if it’s a lesson in what we should avoid.”</p><p>Moebius objectively explained what happened.  The author apologizes for leaving it out, but it was really boring.</p><p>“Being born to a purpose and thinking that death is required to stop serving that purpose…  I think it is important to act as if it’s possible to truly step out of it, making the person different from the role.  My world has a bit of story about not taking this sort of duty seriously and his name was Kuruk.”</p><p>At Moebius’ interest, Sarah wasted the session by talking about Avatar: the Last Airbender and Legend of Korra.  There were teachable moments, but they had limited relevance.  </p><p>“Is this story why you were hesitant to have Archimedes connect with his Pillar at a young age?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“There are probably others in the dusty archives.  It feels obvious,” Sarah said.  “There was a movie about the last emperor of China and the only part I find easy to get at is that as a boy they wouldn’t let him out of the palace to attend his mother’s funeral.  The mood was that the viewers should feel gently horrified at the way he was forced to live.  Archimedes always knew what he was, but we tried to give him some sense of normalcy.”</p><p>“Your predecessors could remember everything without effort,” Moebius said.</p><p>“Having an eidetic memory sounds painful,” Sarah said.  “I like having things end up where I don’t notice them.  The only people who truly forget are ones who live long enough to overflow their storage limits.  I was once able to accidentally drag a human memory out of Raziel after he turned blue just with my dark gift.”</p><p>“Phoebe had the ability to make me forget my past, or at least force me to use my powers to look at it like it didn’t happen to me.  I didn’t want it because of my anger,” Moebius said.</p><p>“I respect the intention,” Sarah said.  “I flinch from groking how the role felt to them.”</p><p>Moebius shook his head.  “You should try harder.  Can the nope let things through to a slow understanding?”</p><p>“The nope should ultimately be a coffee filter,” Sarah said.  That part led to a side-track about the American obsession with coffee and all of the teaching moments that occurred to Sarah.  There was also a resulting coercion for Sarah to eventually show the works of OK Go to Archimedes and Moebius at the same time.  Part of it was that she could make both of them forget if needed, though in Archimedes’ case she was worried about the scars.  </p><p>She contacted Archimedes and he promised that if she wrapped the memories in the right warnings, he wouldn’t poke at them without someone who could help.  She eased them into Ok Go with Wintergarden marble machine and other music videos, but they understood concepts that Terrans tend to say “Holy Fuck” at if they are more in the mood to grok instead of passively enjoy.  They enjoyed most of it without needing to nope, but the one about the vomit comet confused them.  Sarah spoke at how she believed in every moment of an OK Go video, and was just disturbed by the level of commitment they needed to pull it off.</p>
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<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Chapter 23</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sarah began explaining My Little Pony by talking about the accidental audience, and sang “Let’s meet the bronies.”  Moebius’ comment about having songs to help memory sidetracked into Sarah saying “Green grow the Rushes is also called the teaching song, but no one remembers what it was supposed to teach.”</p><p>Then she began explaining.  “Ponies are creatures who view Destiny as a good thing.  It’s considered an important part of growing up to have an epiphany about what they want to do with their lives, and that epiphany painlessly brands the symbol into their skin."</p><p>“Like vempari finding joy in their purpose,” Moebius said.</p><p>Sarah nodded.  “A bit.  Their thing isn’t their only thing, it’s more like their favorite talent.  Rainbow Dash loves flying, but she served as a weather-pony until she could join the Wonderbolts.  Rarity’s thing is gemstones, but she’s happy as a fashionista.  Pinkie Pie is a party planner, but her money-job is an assistant baker.  Those three were also bearers of the Elements of Harmony.  The Cutie Mark crusaders were a trio who became obsessed with finding their thing, and it led to their thing being to help others find their thing.  There was also a villain called Cozyglow.  Her symbol was a chess piece and she literally said that having people do what she told them to was her thing.”</p><p>“That one stung,” Moebius said.</p><p>“I’m not sorry.  She was a minor villain even when trying to get Chrysalis and Tirek to work together.”  Sarah continued.  “Celestia and Luna were demigoddesses connected to the sun and moon, and they were able to use the Elements to turn a creature called Discord into stone.  Later when Luna was too consumed with jealousy to remain free, Celestia had to use the elements to send her away.  The element-bearers that Friendship is Magic focuses on were able to use the elements to heal Luna, but they also groked the elements in a way that allowed them to repair them and eventually replace them.”</p><p>“Luna was imprisoned for feeling jealous?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“It made her dangerous,” Sarah said.  “Ponies slept at night, so being princess of the night was a lonely and thankless task.”</p><p>“Being the Timestreamer can be lonely and thankless,” Moebius said.</p><p>“She’s trying to ease my burden,” Archimedes said.</p><p>“Doing it is a wind that carries me where I want to go without effort.  Choosing to fall would be stupid.”  Sarah then sang the smile song.  “Rarity is connected to Generosity, Apple Jack is an apple farmer connected to Honesty, Pinkie Pie is connected to Laughter, Fluttershy is connected to Kindness, Rainbow Dash is connected to Loyalty, and the focus-element is called Magic but they mean the power of friendship.  Twilight Sparkle’s thing is spells, but Moondancer, Sunset Shimmer, and Starlight Glimmer were all examples of what she would have been without the lessons that led her into becoming a demigoddess of Friendship.”</p><p>“Those names are too coincidental,” Moebius said.</p><p>“Remember that this was presented as fiction and getting cute with names is something they could do,” Sarah said.  “When I told Kain part of the story we tell about him on Earth, he said the truth was in between a pack of madman’s ravings.  The Eternal Prison is the largest example of creative license that I’ve found.”</p><p>“So the death you think I might have suffered…” Moebius said.</p><p>“It depends on the likelihood of Kain being able to surprise you by not staying dead.”  At Moebius’ prompting, Sarah went into detail, including Moebius’ gloating about Kain being dead, how Raziel’s voice-actor gave his voice actor the finger over it, and how Raziel used Moebius’ corpse as a vessel.</p><p>Moebius cringed.  “I think I want you to go back to talking about ponies, and please try to keep the teachable moments pleasant.”</p><p>“Yeah, if I was trying to avoid teachable moments, My Little Pony is not the way to go about it.  During the first season, Twilight Sparkle would write letters to Celestia about what she learned about Friendship.  It did hammer in the morals, but the writers decided to drop it so that they could have more freedom in the lessons they were teaching.  It was also getting to the point where Twilight Sparkle felt she was running out of things to learn and she caused a problem simply because she couldn’t find what to write about.”  Sarah then talked about the show some more, wandering between topics.</p><p>“Discord is an interesting character.  When the writers were talking to the producers about what they wanted to do, they described him as Q, a powerful trickster-spirit.  So they decided to use the actor that played Q.  He was like ‘sure, why not’ and only later he went on to be an ally to the Bronies.  Pinkie Pie is a fourth-wall breaker, possibly not conscious of it, but she’s the one who expressed the most irritation at Discord bringing chaos.  He did become useful despite having questionable morality and not being completely reformed.  I’m not sure if he’s the only Lord of Chaos, but he had escaped being stone once already and his mischief is a bit easier to take when he’s not trying to be malicious.”</p><p>“Trying to make Discord be better fell to Fluttershy.  She once paid for lessons in how to be more assertive, but it made her mean and she managed to get her money back.  She also has an ability she calls the Stare, which can usually get an animal to behave because they instinctively know that the wrath of a gentle person is not something to mess with, but it doesn’t work on Discord even though she tried.  The first time the Mane Six defeated Discord, Fluttershy was the only one resistant to his manipulation and it was mostly because she acts like a doormat sometimes.  When trying to redeem Discord, she let him mess with her until she’d finally had enough, and then she told him that she would stop trying to be his friend unless he put some effort into behaving better.  Discord cares about Fluttershy even though he later managed to make friends with others.  He had some problems with jealousy.”</p><p>“Is that what you’re trying to do to me?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“I wasn’t actually thinking of that,” Sarah said.  “I really didn’t have much of a plan and this coincidence annoys me.”</p><p>“I am concerned about the risk I pose to Archimedes by stalling.  I know I can’t keep this up forever, but I’m wondering how stable the loop is,” Moebius said.</p><p>“I actually don’t mind that you’re stalling, and I’ll be fine for a bit longer if you don’t try to break the loop deliberately,” Archimedes said.  “I think what we’re working against is Kain’s patience.”</p><p>Moebius considered.  “Let me know if the fight becomes any more dangerous to you.”</p><p>“It’s a shame that there are at least two reasons not to offer you a place in the clans,” Sarah said.  “Becoming a vampire usually comes with embracing sadistic desires, and I don’t think vampirism is enough to convince Kain to let you run lose.”</p><p>Moebius shook his head.  “I do not want that.  I still hate vampires.  Besides, you told me that I made a pathetic vampire.”</p><p>“Did you forget what Sarah is?” Archimedes asked.</p><p>“She has an unfortunate biology, but she’s not embracing it,” Moebius said.  “I mean no offense.”</p><p>“Okay, but I don’t know if she was telling the truth outside of the loop,” Archimedes said.  “I don’t think I’ve actively done it in this loop, but outright lying about consequences is a tactic that I’m not above using.”</p>
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<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Chapter 24</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Is letting me see my reincarnation still problematic?” Moebius asked.</p><p>Archimedes frowned.  “Possibly.  Sarah is blinding me to your reaction now, but earlier it wasn’t good.”</p><p>“If that parasite had any control over the way it shat you out, it was being malicious.  It makes me hope that it would choke on me if it came to that,” Sarah said.  “Fred had a rough start, and he is atypical to the point of seeming afflicted, but he’s now happier than he looks, and you might have trouble believing it if you saw him.  Part of the problem is that he hates disruptions to his routine and might get violent about it.”</p><p>“There’s nothing you can do?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“I didn’t know it was you until after Sarah found Fred,” Archimedes said.  “As far as getting him out of there sooner, it would have been difficult, and that’s not including keeping the tear fixed.”</p><p>Moebius indicated that Sarah should answer the question.  She shook her head.  “It’s not an affliction, he’s just not normal.  This sort of thing is common enough among Hylden that he’s fine.  They know how to work with the shortcomings to get at what’s left.  Fred never figured out the finer points of verbal communication, but I’m told that his skill with numbers is inspired.  They taught him the most important manners and understand that he can’t be perfect despite the effort he is clearly making.”</p><p>Moebius frowned.  “You don’t see the problem.”</p><p>“Have you ever meddled and it turned out worse than if you had done nothing?” Sarah asked.</p><p>“You’ve accused me of as much when dealing with Raziel,” Moebius said.  “I do have trouble figuring out where to push when blinded, but usually my work is flawless.”</p><p>“That is something I do differently.  If things work out without me meddling, I prefer not to.  People prefer the illusion that they’re making their own decisions even if I’m sparing them pain,” Archimedes said.  “The only decisions I made about Fred was that I’m satisfied with what Sarah decided to do when she saw him.”</p><p>“He might have been able to be taught how to verbally speak if I had gotten to him sooner, and there were other reasons for me to idly wish about getting him away from his family a few years earlier, but it sounds like trading tolerable pain for a Timestreamer’s headache,” Sarah said.  “It’s not like I can build a perfect person from scratch, and I don’t think making him act normal is something he could manage even if I start doing weird things with my powers.”</p><p>“Do I need to remind you not to get any funny ideas about the timestreaming chambers?” Archimedes asked.</p><p>Sarah shook her head.  “Hell no.  I learned my lesson.”</p><p>“She didn’t cause any damage to time itself, but she did cause me personal inconvenience and hurt Raziel in a way that embarrasses me,” Archimedes said.</p><p>“I thought that Fred is serving a similar role as Catullus,” Moebius said.</p><p>“Accidentally.  He works alongside them and they became sympathetic while they were helping him,” Sarah said.  “Also, being around the Hylden is a lot less stressful than trying to be among typicals because they have less preconceptions about normal.  Atypical Hylden are accepted and valued even when they’re being rude.”</p><p>Archimedes said, “All he needs to do is exist.  Someone else will have to build on the opening he provides.”</p><p>“It also must be nice for you to have someone not-normal to talk to,” Moebius told Sarah.</p><p>Sarah shook her head.  “I have a responsibility to keep an eye on Fred, but the label is the only thing we have in common.  Every time I try to get him to talk about himself, the conversation drifts to math.  That he’s so enthusiastic is the only reason I feign interest, not that he’s likely to notice signals that I find it incomprehensible and boring.”  She then shifted to talking about a character named Sheldon Cooper who was meant to be only to be an insufferable genius.  “They’ve managed to create a character that is very annoying but still fun.  It was the actor’s idea.  I don’t know if the actor was atypical because his acting lessons make it hard to tell.”</p><p>“Do you have any friends like yourself?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“I’m aware that I’m not alone, it’s actually funny to see someone shout ‘what the hell is wrong with you’ at an atypical character, but I haven’t found someone atypical to connect well with.  It’s a different sort of stress than being around typicals.  That stress makes solitude preferable sometimes,” Sarah said.  “Entrapta is a character who had to make a huge effort at friendship, and when she thought she had been abandoned, she joined the bad side and did horrifying things because she didn’t make an effort to think outside of herself.  Her own redemption was a bit iffy because she lacked even a fake conscience, but she managed to painfully break two villains because she didn’t care about good and evil.  Trying to have some self-awareness is something I want to keep working at, even if I alienate people by remaining Terran.”</p><p>At the end of a fuller explanation about She-Ra and Entrapta, Moebius asked, “Coincidences irritate you?  The rest of us are creatures of Destiny and predetermination.  It seems that despite being a force for chaos, you lack the choices that Raziel had and believed in.”</p><p>“Well, She-Ra was probably a deliberate result of ripping the formula from Avatar and My Little Pony, probably some other stories.  They don’t mind being unoriginal when they can retell a story that works,” Sarah said.  “As for the lack of choice, I’m probably due for having a meltdown about that.  Having an interest in doing the right thing does narrow what choices I can be happy with.  There’s a character called Schlock who’s four choices boil down to eat it, kill it, make friends with it, take a bath in it.”</p><p>“Do I want to know?” Moebius asked.</p><p>Sarah shook her head, “Not unless you want to hear about a character who grumbles about being ordered to try non-violent solutions.”</p><p>Moebius considered.  “I am curious to hear if you thought about what if Dumah had managed to bring you to me instead of you becoming the property of Kain.”</p><p>Sarah pondered for just a moment.  “I hope you’ll find this fun.”</p>
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<a name="section0025"><h2>25. Chapter 25</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“There are stories of other people dropping into other worlds.  Sarah’s journey though the Labyrinth ended with the Goblin King complaining that he had exhausted himself for her benefit, and his offer to be her slave in exchange for love might have just been a test.  Aslan brought children to Narnia to fulfill a prophecy to save that world, but he was also a Jesus analog that safeguarded them.  Last Action Hero… I have no clue, but he was also under the protection of the force that brought him there.  I was aware of what problems would happen by saving Janos, but I didn’t think of them, and I didn’t know that History has trouble self-correcting around my actions.  I don’t know the intentions behind whatever brought me here, but it was without warning, and dying is not something that occurred to me until Raziel stabbed me.”</p><p>“Everyone is the hero of their own story.  I can acknowledge that you felt you were doing a right thing even if I don’t agree with it.  If my life rested in your hands instead of Kain’s, I would have selfishly offered to serve you and your former master,” Sarah said.  </p><p>Moebius considered.  “A useful tool that’s painful to use.  I probably would have just killed you unless my former master said otherwise.  You can continue on the assumption that your use outweighed my desire to not be near you.”</p><p>Sarah frowned.  “When I gave up on going home and started caring about this world, I eventually changed my deal with Kain and I would have done the same with you.  I would have tried to convince you of what I felt was the right thing and begged you to go along with it.  I promised Kain that if I could no longer condone what he was doing, I would have warned him before trying to go against him.”</p><p>“You broke that promise when you risked your life to save my mine,” Archimedes said.</p><p>“Sometimes promises need to be broken, but there’s the matter of how we’re supposed to be equals now, so I don’t see that it applies anymore.  Me doing something like that is not something that should have surprised him even if I didn’t literally state a warning,” Sarah said.  “If he hadn’t been so paranoid, that trap would have been obvious.  I would have preferred that he see it, though it still would have resulted in him having difficulty pushing us around.”</p><p>“Can you make it impossible?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“It is dangerous to try and push him too hard, and he resists, but I am looking for opportunities,” Sarah said.  “I know stories that have made me vulnerable to martyrdom, but I realize that being too willing would not accomplish anything.  Sometimes it’s even the wrong thing if it’s a long fight.”</p><p>“I do not know the details of what happened to Raziel,” Moebius said.</p><p>“Part of what I did…  He still forgave Kain, but I think I robbed Raziel of feeling good about his sacrifice.  He held on when his hope was dead so he could finish making it worth something for us, but he also said that he went because he was tired of existing,” Sarah said.</p><p>“Could you tell me more stories of martyrs?” Moebius asked.</p><p>“It would feel like a punch to the gut, and possibly be counterproductive,” Sarah said.</p><p>“Thinking about it makes me sick,” Moebius said.</p><p>Sarah nodded.  “The way it happens in my stories, the ones that have the time to think about it…”</p><p>Moebius shook his head.  “I don’t think you’re going to be able to make me willing to go just by talking.  I give my consent for you to do whatever you need to do no matter how cruel you think it is.  But before that, I wonder if you can somehow use me to make things better with Kain.”</p><p>“It will be difficult for you to get through to him,” Archimedes said.</p><p>“But he can use nastier barbs if he doesn’t mind the possibility of more broken bones.”  Sarah frowned. “I’d have to think very carefully about how to poke Kain and I don’t like the risk.  How hard is it to break the loop?”</p><p>“I need to think about this as well,” Archimedes said.  “Kain isn’t as bad as Sarah, but there are times when he gets hard to predict.”</p><p>Moebius’ idea about the right angle was ultimately the one they were willing to go with, and it was more genuine than not.  Kain was told that Moebius wanted to give a goodbye speech, and had instructions not to hurt his old nemesis.</p><p>“You’re genuinely cooperating?” Kain asked.</p><p>“I gave Sarah permission to force me.  It seems that I’m not the type to stop fighting no matter how much I want to,” Moebius said.  “Getting to know Archimedes has made me disappointed in myself, and I wish I could have been more like him.  I let selfishness get in the way of my duties and I pushed you into something similar.  What I did also caused you to hurt him when he didn’t deserve any of it.  It is fortunate that he’s willing to put his personal feelings aside for the sake of duty.  Please stop letting your grudge against me cause problems.  You have a guide who cares more about the world than himself, but he can’t help you unless you let him.”</p><p>Kain growled and narrowed his eyes skeptically.  Sarah punched Kain in the arm.  It was hard enough to shatter bone if Kain had been human, but he felt it as a strong tap.  He frowned at Sarah.</p><p>Sarah said, “He’s being serious.”</p><p>Kain considered.  “This is why I couldn’t find any of his traps, he’s laying them now.”</p><p>Sarah balled her talons and then exhaled as she forced them open again.  “Your paranoia is going to destroy us and I don’t know what else to do.”</p><p>“I know I’m one to talk, but you’re being an embarrassment,” Moebius said.</p><p>Kain snarled, but Sarah stepped in front of him.  “Stop and think.  I am willing to have another fight with you, but it will not end well for you.”</p><p>Sarah felt her power diminish, and she rolled her eyes.  “You’re seriously removing one of the less-painful options?  Back down.”</p><p>“I’m not being selfish when I say that breaking the loops tied to my existence has consequences that I’d have trouble explaining,” Archimedes said.  “You might not have been able to find someone to restore the Time Pillar.”</p><p>Kain grit his teeth.  “I want to be sure that there is no danger.”</p><p>“I can let you have a little while to try and think of something that will ease your mind, but I would rather that you just trust Sarah,” Archimedes said.</p><p>Kain sneered and left the room.</p><p>“I wonder if he realizes that he’s still throttling my Pillar magic,” Sarah said.  “I might still have enough power with my Dark Gift if you two want to get it over with.”</p><p>“He’d be furious,” Archimedes said.</p><p>“I know I’m not always reliable about having your back, but I will stand with you on this,” Sarah said.</p><p>“I don’t recall you doing anything less than you could be expected to,” Archimedes said.</p>
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<a name="section0026"><h2>26. Chapter 26</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>While they were waiting for Kain to get his paranoia in check, Archimedes told Moebius about Bill and Ted.  During the explanation of how time would keep running while they were traveling, Moebius cringed.  “How could they not realize that it didn’t work that way?”</p><p>“While Rufus was trying to explain, their future versions appeared across a field and yelled advice,” Archimedes then explained the entire scene before skipping to the jailbreak.”</p><p>Moebius blinked in confusion.  “But why did they use the wrong explanation when they were almost aware of how it really works?”</p><p>“Rufus was giving a time machine to a couple of stoners, which means they were taking a substance that would occasionally cause them to do things like giggle at how weird their own hands look.  Isn’t it better to give a simple explanation that works rather than the right one?” Sarah asked.</p><p>Moebius asked Sarah, “Are you still annoyed by coincidences?”</p><p>Sarah shook her head.  “I don’t expect a plan to survive more than one or two steps, but otherwise that scuffle with Kain turned into a Xanatos Gambit.  The writers of that story loved to make things convoluted and that included Xanatos’ plans.  Even if plan A failed, plan C might work while plan D and E aren’t complete losses.  There are multiple win-states, and my being able to define so many by using the effect to explain a cause is probably confirmation bias.  It’s not like nothing ever goes wrong.”</p><p>“I can’t tell if you understand or are just throwing words around,” Moebius said.</p><p>Archimedes’ translation was something hard to express in English, but Moebius could understand it.  The conversation wandered into Doctor Who, at least the parts about nine through twelve.  Sarah had only seen one episode from the old show.</p><p>“You seem a lot like the Doctor’s companions, especially River,” Moebius told Sarah.</p><p>“Better River Song than River Tam,” Archimedes said.</p><p>Sarah grinned impishly.  “I do a bit of both.”</p><p>“Are there any more stories that directly relate to what you do?” Moebius asked Sarah.</p><p>“Well, there is the Cell,” Sarah said.</p><p>“You never told me that one,” Archimedes said.</p><p>“It’s gory.  I do worry about your reaction to fake violence, but I’ve always been so desensitized that I’m not sure if it’s a bad thing  The other truthfinders were apprehensive about me until I finally hit a case that made me puke,” Sarah said before giving the briefest of explanations about the movie.</p><p>Archimedes then gave an explanation of video games using God of War.  “She says it’s okay to enjoy violence when it’s fake, but controlling a puppet to kill someone horribly when the begging sounds real…  I’ve arranged violence, but I don’t enjoy it and don’t see how anyone could think it’s fun even if it’s not real.”</p><p>“It comes from not caring about the pain of others,” Moebius said.</p><p>“Which is why when I’m replaced, I think I should be willing to do some of my successor’s dirty work.  Caring too much while fighting nightmares could be an opening to getting badly damaged,” Sarah said.</p><p>“You can’t shield people forever, especially when standing up to Kain might end you,” Moebius said.  “Also remember the lessons you’ve learned about stories.”</p><p>“Perhaps a little desensitization is a good thing,” Sarah said.  “Awkward shift in topic, but I did get a few nifty tricks from Inside Out even if they got some things wrong for the sake of an interesting story.  The people at Pixar are masters at understanding feelings.”  She didn’t avoid talking about Bing Bong, but she gracefully altered the story to skip the scene where he died.  Then she went through some of the other Pixar movies.  Moebius frowned when Sarah talked about Sid but didn’t interrupt her.</p><p>Moebius said, “As fun as this is, now that I’m ready to go, I’m getting angry at Kain for drawing this out.  Is it safe to say something?”</p><p>Archimedes stood.  “Safe or not, I’ve indulged him long enough.  He’s capable of stalemating for years.”</p><p> </p><p>The entire Circle save for Bavol gathered, and there were no outsiders this time.</p><p>Archimedes stood in the center of the chairs.  “You remember how it was Moebius that restored my Pillar for me, but that was part of a loop.  He is here now; Sarah and I have been making sure that he would not cause trouble in the moments between becoming the Timestreamer again and dying to make way for me.  But Kain’s lack of trust in us is making it so we cannot send Moebius back to meet his fate even though that is the only thing left to be done.”</p><p>Grumbles passed between the members of the Circle.  Words like “This again?” and “It grows tiresome.” </p><p>“I feel like I’m wasting my breath by asking, but is it true that the only obstacle is that you don’t trust them?” Finneas asked Kain.  </p><p>Kain nodded.  “I’m sure that somehow Moebius has managed to manipulate them into some sort of plot.”</p><p>Finneas starting shouting.  “What do you need to resolve this perpetual problem?  You keep making paranoid accusations without proper proof and I’m sick of it.”</p><p>“It’s not just that, but the mistrust Kain has towards Archimedes is impairing his ability to tell us his precognitions,” Hardegin said.</p><p>“It would be better if he could be more forthright about what he knows,” Keturah said.</p><p>“It’s not just the Timestreamer, but Sarah has done little to deserve Kain’s lack of trust,” Chixiksi said.</p><p>“Did you forget that she used trickery to win a fight against me?” Kain asked.</p><p>“You kicked the snot out of me,” Sarah said.  “If you’re going to whine about how it’s unfair, I’m willing to listen.”</p><p>“What she did was something that should have been noticed by someone who has any skill the intrigues of the Empire, even an amateur,” Lorica said.  “Even if she’s more capable than she’s previously shown, you handed her that victory.”</p><p>Kain glared at Lorica, both for insulting him and undermining his chance at making a credible defense.</p><p>Hardegin said, “It is a strange circumstance, but technically Kain doesn’t have the right to tell Archimedes and Sarah what to do in this matter.  I am worried about it and I would like to know enough to give my input about Moebius, and perhaps Finneas should say something as well, but otherwise it isn’t our affair.”</p><p>“If Kain would stop throttling my Pillar magic, it is easy enough to check, but I believe I’ll find that Moebius has truly lost his desire to cause any more mischief.”  Sarah noticed the looks of surprise.  “Yeah, I just realized how surreal that sounds.”</p><p>Sarah and Archimedes told the story.</p><p>“Is that unabridged beyond your infuriating refusal to tell us exactly what you saw in his mind?” Kain asked.</p><p>“I left out some nasty lies designed to cause harm, and later some really boring bits, but I think it’s enough for the general idea,” Sarah said.</p><p>“I would like to hear about some of his lies later, but I’m convinced that it’s possible that you have made Moebius desire redemption,” Finneas said.  “Does anyone other than Kain object to Sarah and Archimedes having the final say on this?”</p>
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<a name="section0027"><h2>27. Chapter 27</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Moebius frowned as he heard Sarah telepathically whisper to him from outside of his cell.  “Brace yourself for mixed news.  We owe thanks to Finneas.  It’s too tangled of a mess for me to tell you what to do, but Archimedes relies on him a lot.”</p><p>Moebius wished that Sarah had given him the full story so he could prepare properly, but he barely had the time to adopt an expression of boredom before she and Archimedes walked in.</p><p>“Good news,” Archimedes said.  “Everyone in the Circle got really annoyed at Kain.  Finneas even started yelling at him.”</p><p>Moebius chuckled.  “It sounds like things are looking up.”</p><p>Archimedes nodded.  “Using Hardegin would have caused other problems, but with Finneas all I had to do was arrange proof that Kain was picking on me and he did the rest.  Just telling him about it was enough for him to fully cooperate with trying to get that proof,”  He turned to Sarah, “I’m grateful for what you did, Sarah, but Finneas can stand up to him physically instead of… well…”</p><p>“Right tool for the job.  I acknowledge that my ability to be effective is lacking.  I’m happy that you can use that old goat as a shield, even I would be happier if it wasn’t necessary,” Sarah said.  “I’m not sure about the language of Empire intrigues, but it sounded like Lorica gave Kain a sick burn as well.”</p><p>“You seriously don’t understand how deeply her words cut?” Archimedes asked.  “She said your bait was obvious and that only an idiot would have fallen for it.”</p><p>“It sounds like you’re managing to make it so my reputation won’t hold you back any more, Archimedes,” Moebius said.  “It is your turn to do things your way, and you’re already greater than I with the potential to be even greater.”</p><p>“I’m glad I got to talk to you when you understand that,” Archimedes said.</p><p>Moebius turned to Sarah.  “If you could prepare me to meet my death, I think I’ve spent enough time here.”</p><p>Sarah nodded.  “Archimedes, he has some things that I don’t think he wants you to see, so I don’t think you can help.”</p><p>Archimedes nodded.  “Privacy.  No real need for me to see the embarrassing skeletons.”</p><p>“I’ll be as gentle as possible,” Sarah said as she entered Moebius’ mindscape.</p><p>“Are you okay about Finneas?” Sarah asked.</p><p>Moebius frowned.  “Personally, I would like for Archimedes to know.  But for his sake, maybe he shouldn’t as long as Finneas is willing to pretend that he can make up for his mistakes.”</p><p>“They’ve been cordial to each other for years, though I’m not sure what all of the factors are,” Sarah said.  “I apologize for not confronting Finneas yet, but I had a feeling that I needed to focus my full attention on how delicate that situation is.”</p><p>“Do your best with that,” Moebius said.</p><p>What Sarah did next is hard to put into proper metaphor.  She broke connections between memories, weakened or strengthened emotions as needed, and did mind magic that would have been against her morals if Moebius hadn’t consented.</p><p>At one point, she spoke aloud.  “There’s a lot of pressure here, so just let it out.”</p><p>Moebius suddenly cringed and whimpered “oh god” before bursting into an ugly fit of crying.  Archimedes instinctively started rubbing his back in an attempt to comfort him.</p><p>As Moebius calmed down, Sarah finished her work.  “All that’s left is to get cleaned up.”</p><p>Moebius stumbled in exhaustion as he went to the sink, but he regained his composure by the time he came back out.  He seemed almost serene as he followed Archimedes out of the door with Sarah bringing up the rear.  Archimedes gave Moebius his last-minute instructions, and made his orders clear to the four vampires that were escorting him to his death.</p><p>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23161174/chapters/55434799</p><p>It was the same balcony where Sarah and Archimedes discussed Kain being avisva on the day before Archimedes met Moebius for the first time.  This time, Sarah sat facing Archimedes instead of letting her legs dangle over the drop.  He would have sat next to her, but he couldn’t bring himself to sit on the railing facing either direction.</p><p>“I’m confused again.  It’s not bad, but…” Archimedes sighed.  “Him going was inevitable, and that the loop is complete is a deep rightness, but it’s like something is missing.”</p><p>“It’s okay to mourn him even after the terrible things he did.  …At least privately,” Sarah said.  “There’s actually steps to the grieving process that most people go through unintentionally, but not everyone goes through them all and not always in order.”</p><p>“I think you’re right, but mourning him seems completely ridiculous,” Archimedes said.  “What are the steps?”</p><p>“This actually might start sounding familiar, but the last step is acceptance,” Sarah said.  “The other steps can be described as denial or being numb, anger and bargaining, sadness, and working through the feelings.”</p><p>“I’d have to look for exactly when and how you did it, but you must have slipped it into a discussion about my duty,” Archimedes said.  “Practicing acceptance of what is required to be a good Time Guardian helped me to notice feelings like that without it hurting too much.  Denial and bargaining are futile, but it doesn’t mean I don’t do it anyway sometimes.  Now that there is no danger in it, I think I might indulge myself in feeling sad for a while about what needed to be done.”</p><p>“I’m still a bit itchy about it, but I want to be uncomfortable.  I think you’ll be okay,” Sarah said.</p><p>“The parts of Death that I deal with are very different from the Necromancer’s, but I feel like there’s something I’m not seeing.”  Archimedes frowned.</p><p>“Vampires muck up the philosophy, but the Hylden immortality treatment just halts aging and makes them not wear out,” Sarah said.  “If Destiny or a cause like sickness or accidents don’t get someone, mortals still can’t outrun age.  In the mythology of my world, the Grim Reaper often carries an hourglass to symbolize when someone runs out of life.  The spirit of the Ending Year is also usually pictured with a scythe.  I suppose it’s natural for people that are amazed by someone lasting a century.”</p><p>“Is it weird that I can’t seem to imagine what a century feels like?” Archimedes asked.</p><p>“Maybe?” Sarah asked.  “I get a little freaked out when I’m around people who talk about a thousand years like it’s something that could be compared to a mortal decade.  That’s the only rationalization I have for why I don’t feel like I’ve been alive for significantly long.  It’s probably a percentage of experience thing, judging by how impatient children are.”</p><p>“Maybe I should ask an immortal who has a better sense of what weird actually is,” Archimedes said.</p>
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<a name="section0028"><h2>28. Chapter 28</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was evening when Sarah visited Finneas’ home.  He led her to his parlor, where Vorador was already settled into a comfortable chair with his feet up on a footstool.  He momentarily stood in greeting to Sarah, and sat down again as she did.</p><p>Finneas bustled at the sideboard.  “Can I tempt you with some of the real stuff, or are you still insisting on nothing but that synthetic swill?”</p><p>“I could use a treat, depending on where it came from,” Sarah said.  “I can’t let perfect be the enemy of good and that last project was rough.”</p><p>“I was thinking Goshen Farm, but if you prefer Greenwood?”  Finneas didn’t try to hide his curious stare.  Both were a coop of professional donors, but Greenwood Farm specialized in eating mostly vegetables to produce a bright flavor while Goshen Farm tasted like the sausages that made up a good part of their diet.</p><p>“The only one I refuse right now is Arbane,” Sarah said.  “There has to be a better name to call those things.”</p><p>“I don’t understand how you can fault what I’m told was your idea,” Vorador said.</p><p>“That’s not what I’m here to discuss.”  Sarah took a delicate sip from her goblet and let her eyes close momentarily in enjoyment.</p><p>“I appreciate that some of the Circle would probably be disturbed by Moebius’ lies, but we’re both eager to hear the sordid details,” Finneas said.</p><p>“Technically, I think he believed most of what he said to me.  There were points where he was mistaken, and he persisted in pressing matters that I would not agree with, but I think he was light on deliberate falsehoods,” Sarah said.  “Can you give me your side of the story about the time you shared in the Citadel?”</p><p>Finneas scowled as he gently set his goblet on a side table.  “I still can’t decide if your peculiar attitude is deliberate or if it’s part of whatever went wrong with your creation.  Cruelty and divine right to express it is in our nature and fledglings can’t be expected to control it very well.  We were able to keep ourselves from actually hurting them, but mostly it was because it would upset our sire.”</p><p>“So you did play cruel games.  They were terrified.  It seems like your actions led to the rebellion, the Sarafan, and the last purge,” Sarah said.  “Your behavior with Archimedes leads me to think that at some point you realized that.”</p><p>“Bizarre creature, I wonder if you’re even capable of understanding,” Finneas said.</p><p>“Everything was different for me, but I think I can paint a decent picture of what happened.  I’m glad that I turned out nothing like either one of you, brother.”  Sarah set her own goblet down.  “Ozker was already a Hylden when I met him, but he remembers being the same sort of person as Janos.  Vempari have a strong belief in nature being more important nurture, and that exposure to the wrong influences can be easily corrected by just being around the right ones.  In addition to not trying to teach the young Guardians anything, Janos probably didn’t give you enough guidance.  He admitted to feeling that he neglected me, and the way Hardegin and Isolda taught me how to vampire is why I’m guessing that there was some attempt to keep you and the rest of our siblings from running completely wild.”</p><p>Vorador frowned into his goblet.  “That is a close approximation.  Janos was slow to begin chastising me for my lack of control.  I don’t think he was ever aware of how completely I embraced the bloodthirst.  Finneas has given me an education about how you do things now, and I think the leniency for humans is sickening.”</p><p>“I’ve always considered you something of a monster, I just didn’t have the guts to put it bluntly,” Sarah said.</p><p>“Do you criticize a wolf for what it is?” Vorador asked.  “I’d wager that you rejected that gift as well.”</p><p>“She’s defective.  If she was going to develop the ability to shift forms, she should have been able to do it centuries ago,” Finneas said.  “Janos was going to use her being dead as an excuse to disown her, but she said she talked him out of it for your sake.”</p><p>“It would have also been another contradiction.  I’m sorry I let his madness get so bad,” Sarah said.  “I know a bit about Terran wolves, but they weeded out the ones that didn’t stick to deer.  Someone who’s not injured can intimidate a wild one into leaving them alone, and captive ones have some respect for their handlers, sometimes even treating them like packmates.”</p><p>It was Vorador’s turn to set down his goblet.  “You’re describing dogs.”</p><p>“Woof.”  Sarah turned to Finneas.  “I am still curious about you and Archimedes.”</p><p>Finneas sighed.  “I don’t know.  You might be a bad influence.”</p><p>Sarah smiled and opened her mouth to speak, but then frowned in thought for a few minutes.  “That got weird.  I think I’m having a Looking-Glass moment.”</p><p>Sarah had been about to comment that she was like a cuddly cthulu, but that swiftly became an uncomfortable thought because of the real Lovecraftian nightmare.  She tried to come up with another metaphor, but the Terran perspective made any attempts at understanding the situation with a story come up short.  The best she could do was think about how much Skeletor whined when confronted with the spirit of Christmas, and she got stuck on trying to imagine what it would be like to be worse than Skeletor and subjected to a Care Bear Stare.</p><p>Finneas gave her a look.  “If it feels anything like the Looking-Glass moments you sometimes inflict on us, it must be unfathomable.  I don’t think I want to know.”</p><p>“I don’t want to try to explain it too much.”  Sarah thought again.  “Yeah, it wouldn’t go well.  I want to keep thinking about it, and I might be able to come up with something that won’t cause a headache.”</p><p>Finneas noticed Vorador’s confusion and explained a bit what Looking-Glass moment meant.  “It’s nice to know that she at least understands how it feels.”</p><p>Sarah shook her head and giggled.  “This one is fun.  Scary, but I want to see how weird it gets.”  It pained her to not use the obvious colloquialism, but the grievous bodily harm she was once promised if she kept using it would have hurt more.</p><p>“Don’t do your equivalent of causing a storm,” Finneas growled.</p><p>Sarah nodded her agreement.  “I don’t think Archimedes knows what you did, and I don’t know a good way to tell him.  I’m willing to let things continue the way they are for as long as it’s a good thing for him.”</p><p>“I will put great consideration into the matter.”  Finneas drained his goblet.  “If nothing else, I do not want to be his enemy.”</p>
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<a name="section0029"><h2>29. Chapter 29</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sarah decided to contact Lorica, expressing the desire for help with a personal problem.  Though neither of them had a vempari’s full capacity to understand wind, they met in a spot where it buffeted at them in a pleasing manner.  It was near the Silenced Cathedral, but the Zephonim had started getting used to random Razielim standing on the overlooking cliffs.</p><p>“I think we might end up insulting each other during this conversation,” Sarah said.  “I’ll try to be nice, but I’ll understand if you don’t want to struggle with being tactful about it.”</p><p>Lorica raised her eyebrows.  “What could this possibly be about?”</p><p>“I had a Looking-Glass moment when talking to Finneas.  You have similarities in personality, but you’re calmer about hating me, so maybe you can help talk me through it,” Sarah said.</p><p>Lorica deadpanned.  “The alien creature had a Looking-Glass moment.”  </p><p>“I’m the one who ended up on the wrong side of it, you just hear about the other side,” Sarah said.  “Look over there.  There’s a group of vampires just sitting there like it’s normal.”</p><p>Lorica frowned.  “It is normal, though they are not just sitting there.”</p><p>“Is the knitting weird to you?” Sarah asked.  “That a bunch of spider vampires are knitting or something makes it extra weird for me.”</p><p>“I do not know enough about Zephonim to know if it is an unusual hobby,” Lorica said.</p><p>“Do you seriously not understand?  I’m having trouble coming up with weird things that you might take for granted even though this place is full of weird.”  Sarah thought.  “Being able to truthfully say I’m at least five centuries old is weird.  Talking to someone who thinks that’s not a long time is weird.”</p><p>Lorica frowned.  “You must be in constant pain.  Why is one Looking-Glass moment significant?”</p><p>“Terran minds are resilient.  I snapped a few times in the first day or two and then mostly got used to it,” Sarah said.  “This one… well that’s why I want your help.  I think there might be a mistake brewing.”</p><p>Lorica’s wings remained still because true Razielim didn’t have the flaring response, but her eyes narrowed.  “What sort of mistake?”</p><p>“Hasn’t killed us yet, but I need to at least investigate it.”  Sarah rubbed her spars together.  “It’s like I’m not really a vampire in the ways that matter.  My two closest siblings call me a creature, not that it bothers me, and the only bloodsucker I’m really friends with is a Hylden.  I don’t know Hardegin or Kain’s opinion about my behavior these days, but they both spent time clinging to their humanity.”</p><p>“Kain?  I suppose that’s not unexpected.  Vampires who remember being human usually take a little time to accept their new nature,” Lorica said.  “I can acknowledge the Melchiahim that drink fake blood and remember being Hylden, but I call you creature because I cannot bring myself to comprehend that you are a vampire of any sort.”</p><p>“The nature is what I’m hoping you can help me understand,” Sarah said.  “Finneas and Vorador talked about the sadism like it was something to embrace.  When I was young and Hardegin was taking care of me, he sometimes got in a mood to be merciful.  He talked about how he had a reason to be cruel when he was human, but he stopped caring about that when he embraced his nature.  Being corrupted from birth could explain Kain’s sadistic streak.  Cursed vempari fought the bloodlust, but I don’t know how many succumbed.  Janos’ reluctance about the cure was only that he was convinced that Chixiksi was trying to poison him or something.”</p><p>“Once a vampire from the clans accepts being a vampire, they are indistinguishable from one that has no human memory,” Lorica said.  “They are even willing to attack their former relatives.”</p><p>“I guess the blood of the covenant really is thicker than the water of the womb,” Sarah said.  “It got shortened to blood is thicker than water and came to mean that family is more important than the people you choose to be around.”</p><p>“Odd that Terrans would have that expression, but I suppose it serves you well,” Lorica said.</p><p>“Not all Terrans are peaceniks, it’s a full spectrum down to monster with many falling in the range of just caring about them and theirs,” Sarah said.  “And I don’t intend offense, it just keeps working out that I get along better with friends than family.  I grew to hate my mortal father.”</p><p>“Do you hate our sire?” Lorica asked.</p><p>Sarah shook her head.  “He told me that I was his first stray, and time-travel made things a little complicated, but he didn’t treat me differently even once we both knew.  The relationship was unequal, but it was like a friendship.”</p><p>“When he came to this time, he didn’t seem to like you,” Lorica said.</p><p>Sarah rubbed her spars together in embarrassment.  “He developed massive trust issues before I met him.  If I wasn’t being less honest than he was used to, he might have made some proper jokes at my expense.”</p><p>“Our Lord is not known for his sense of humor,” Lorica said.</p><p>“Sorry, Looking-Glass moment,” Sarah said.  “To get back on topic, is being relatively unempathetic an important part of being a vampire?”</p><p>Lorica frowned.  “Why do you ask?”</p><p>“You noticed how Finneas usually takes the lead in standing up for Archimedes?  I asked him about it and I don’t know if he’s embarrassed or what, but he said that he didn’t know and suggested that I might be a bad influence,” Sarah said.</p><p>Lorica glared.  “What are your intentions?  Answer me honestly.”</p><p>“I don’t know what you mean,” Sarah said.  “I’m not being malicious, but maybe there’s something unwanted going on.”</p><p>“What you did to Moebius would be viewed as a clumsy intrigue, but it was effective.  I have a hard time believing that you’re ignorant of what you are doing,” Lorica said.</p><p>“Seriously, can you explain?” Sarah said.</p><p>“You know that you are the only… vampire that still retains your human qualities.  You didn’t need to ask me about it because it was discussed many years ago.  You are influential, and have already changed our relationship to humanity.  Now you’re concerned that you might be destroying us.”</p><p>“Yeah, I had a thought or two about that, but I haven’t figured out how to explain it well,” Sarah said.  “That you might like being, for the lack of a better word, evil… It just recently occurred to me that I might be a… a righteous fiend.”</p><p>Lorica gave a melodic laugh that did not fit with a vampire or a necromancer.  “And what do you intend to do now that the thought of annihilating us has occurred to you?”</p><p>Sarah’s wings stretched downwards as she howled.  “I don’t know!  I don’t want to be evil; I’m capable of being worse than Vorador.  But I don’t think I can be good without dragging you brutes kicking and screaming with me.”</p><p>“Sarah the Sarafan,” Lorica said.</p><p>“That insult was too much,” Sarah said.  “When it comes from a vampire, it translates as Nazi in Terran and the meaning is something like ‘villainous scumbag where it’s okay to knock him to the ground and kick him until he stops squealing like a pig.’  Terrans would call them inhuman, but that would be stooping to their level.”</p><p>Lorica considered.  “If you are truly concerned for our welfare, perhaps you should embrace sadism and become a proper vampire.”</p><p>“Okay, but after I’m removed from my Pillar,” Sarah said.  “If I blow my top, I don’t want to take the rest of you down with me like my predecessor did.”</p>
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<a name="section0030"><h2>30. Chapter 30</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Before Sarah was removed from her Guardianship, she tried one last time to save Janos.  Even with the warning that he would die if she failed, there was nothing she could do.  Then with the threat that Vorador would go on another rampage through the Circle, Janos was sent into the future for the next Mind Guardian to try healing him.</p><p>Then there was an argument about Sarah’s removal.</p><p>“Please?” she asked.  “We all know that he was as redeemed as possible when he went.  Let me lay my binding token at the base of my Pillar and walk to the center of the dais.  It’s not like unworthy vampires haven’t been killed there.”</p><p>“Give me your token and hold still,” Kain growled.</p><p>Finneas snarled.  “You really need to let go of that grudge.”</p><p>Archimedes sniffled loudly.</p><p>“Are you okay?” Sarah asked.</p><p>Archimedes shook his head.  “When they revive you, you’re going to try being evil.”</p><p>Sarah sighed.  “I have no right to stay good when it is hurting so many people.  It was discussed and decided.”</p><p>“We were outnumbered by people acting out of fear that outweighed rationality,” Archimedes spat.</p><p>Though it was delayed until the moment a vempari was being born, Sarah got the death she requested.  Since she forgot to specify a weapon, and the Soul Reaver was too insane to not permanently kill her, Kain tore out her heart.  He professed that he was doing it out of respect for Sarah’s love of irony, but really it was about being able to cause her pain without the Circle chastising him.  That part didn’t work.</p><p>Archimedes left before Sarah was revived, though he claimed it was the violence that made him puke in the hallway.</p><p>Vorador was surprised when Sarah showed up on his doorstep.  His home was in the ruins of some forgotten outpost that he’d gotten partially restored.  It lacked the splendor of his former castle, but he saw the potential to make it even more magnificent.</p><p>Sarah said, “I think I need some lessons in being evil, and you’re the most evil person I know.”</p><p>Vorador sighed.  “Is this going to be like trying to teach you chess?”</p><p>The lesson began by trying to teach Sarah about wolves.  Since she couldn’t transform, Vorador tried attacking her with that form.  She suffered severe injuries, but she had also kicked him in the jimmies and shoved her whole arm down his throat.</p><p>As Vorador lay on the ground and adjusted to his body trying to remember its long-forgotten ability to puke, Sarah said, “You told me to fight back and be vicious.  Anyway, those are proven methods to deal with wolves.”</p><p>Vorador mentally projected that the arm thing seemed ill-advised in theory and inquired about other proven methods.</p><p>Sarah pondered.  “Well, going for the eyes is more for sharks.  Maybe it works on bears?  What is the way to deal with a bear when challenging it doesn’t work?”</p><p>Vorador immediately decided that he needed a new idea.  It resulted in buying a prisoner.  Through sheer luck, he was actually innocent of his crime.</p><p>“A good person would gift him to the Timestreamer,” Sarah said.  “What do you think?”</p><p>“You shouldn’t concern yourself about whether or not they deserve it,” Vorador said.</p><p>Sarah nodded.  “Right.  During the last purge, I really wasn’t good enough to take on hunters, so I had to eat anyone who got unlucky.”</p><p>Vorador gave her instruction in torture, and with her knowledge of anatomy she was able to expand on the lessons in a way that seemed inspired.  She suggested things like making balloon animals instead of just pulling out the intestines.  Then she suggested cutting off the prisoner’s hands and getting a Melchiahim to help her sew them back onto the wrong stumps.  All of this was discussed in front of the prisoner.</p><p>One day, as Sarah was using Hylden body-menders on the prisoner, Vorador commented, “I’m actually running out of ideas.  It’s hard to improve on that hand thing.”</p><p>“Happens to artists all of the time.  It’s a shame I can’t do water-boarding.”  Sarah then addressed the prisoner.  “Do you have any ideas?”  When he refused to answer, Sarah began singing the song that never ends.</p><p>Vorador left after ten minutes, and three hours later he was fearing that Sarah had done something that would destroy herself as well, but two hours after that her voice started to falter and she stopped.  He realized the true horror of the song when he caught himself starting to hum it.</p><p>“It’s called an ear worm,” Sarah said.  “They usually go away on their own, or they can be cancelled with another ear worm that is stronger but shorter-lived.”</p><p>Sarah then suggested Nothing, and the prisoner was locked into a dark closet.  Knowing about how long it took a mind to start degrading and finding the initial stages boring, Sarah turned to the Wikipedia archives.</p><p>“What is that?” Vorador asked.</p><p>“Knowledge pillaged from Earth.  I’m looking up Mengele,” Sarah said.  “He was with Earth’s equivalent to the Sarafan, except it was human against human.  He performed horrible experiments on the children.”</p><p>“I think perhaps that you’ve managed to connect to your vampiric nature,” Vorador said.  “Go ahead and feed from him.”</p><p>Sarah bit down, but instead of drawing out the blood, she let the prisoner’s own heartbeat push the blood into her mouth.</p><p>It hadn’t occurred to Sarah where she would live when she gave up her Guardianship.  Even when her successor came of age, it was unlikely that he or she would want to live among Hylden, so technically Sarah could keep the apartment.  It was just that it felt wrong.  </p><p>For the time-being, she was crashing with a Melchiahim scientist and silently contemplating what she did.  She would have shared her thoughts except that she didn’t want to encourage another vampire to be more monstrous than what came naturally.  She decided to wander the vampire district, as she had done when she was a Guardian.</p><p>Since it was the middle of the night, the Melchiahim were bustling about the business of their normal lives.  Sarah wandered towards the river where it should have been quieter.  There were still vampires, but they were simply crossing the bridge, going or returning from business on the Hylden side.  The crowd was small since most Hylden slept at night.</p><p>There was a cry of “Get help!” and Sarah ran to investigate.</p><p>A Hylden woman had fallen into the river and was clinging to some rocks.  They were sharp, and she was losing her grip as they cut her hands, but there was a chance that she could drown if she lost to the current.  Sarah hesitated only an instant before leaping into the air.  Sarah’s feet and arms were badly burned as she grabbed the woman, but in a moment they both were safe.  Even with Sarah's injuries and the smell of blood, she was able to talk to the woman in an effort to calm her.</p>
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<a name="section0031"><h2>31. Chapter 31</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Word about Sarah’s heroic deed reached Chixiksi, and via him the rest of the Circle.  Vorador and Sarah were called before them.  Ozker was also physically present this time instead of simply being there in spirit through Chixiksi.</p><p>“I thought you said you managed to get her to embrace the sadism,” Finneas said to Vorador.</p><p>“I thought she had,” Vorador said.  “She was crossing lines that made me uncomfortable.”</p><p>Kain began laughing, and the rest of the people stared in wonder or discomfort.  “I thought that you were exaggerating when you said that you could out-evil Vorador.”</p><p>“Being afraid that it wasn’t an exaggeration was one of the thoughts I used to keep myself in check,” Sarah said.  “Turns out that my fake conscience survived a deliberate attempt to destroy it.  I really couldn’t enjoy the torture despite my best efforts.  I guess I’m mostly numb either way and rationality is how I know that I did a terrible thing that was wasteful.”</p><p>“At least this experiment gave me the evidence I need to make stronger arguments this time,” Chixiksi said.</p><p>“A person died in the most painful ways that I could think of,” Sarah said.  “It was sheer luck that the prisoner I bought was innocent, but if I hadn’t been deliberately trying to be evil, I would have given him to Archimedes as a gift.”</p><p>Archimedes was trying to pretend that he wasn’t crying.  “What did you expect me to do with him?” </p><p>“Whatever you wanted, including letting him go,” Sarah said.  “Considering where your duty forces your ethics, having an indentured servant might have been useful and tolerable, depending on how you would decide to use him.”</p><p>“That path is too broken for me to see, but I’m willing to consider it,” Archimedes said.</p><p>“I cannot bear the full responsibility for how you decided to conduct yourself, but it was a mistake that I must consider carefully so that it’s not repeated,” Chixiksi said.  </p><p>“It’s simple.  If you need to have a monster design and run an experiment, give firm oversight,” Sarah said.  “Archimedes was right.  If it’s okay to try and push the vempari and Hylden into being not being jerks, it doesn’t make sense to not do the same thing to vampires.”</p><p>“The traits that you fault is part of who we are,” Finneas said.  “Do you now believe that you have the right to destroy it?”</p><p>“I’m just not set up to grok how wrong it is,” Sarah said.  “The perspective is that forcing a good person to be evil is terrible, but forcing an evil person to be good isn’t.  That I might be incapable of truly understanding that I’m the bad guy is the only reason I agreed to go along with this, and it did come down to numbers.  This isn’t black and white, it’s purple and red.”</p><p>Sarah had been going for blue and orange morality or red vs blue, but she didn’t want to confuse the message because of the vempari.  Lorica inhaled sharply because the Razielim and Dumahim still had a grudge that would have been a blood feud if it hadn’t been forbidden, but she was the only one that experienced the accidental metaphor-failure.</p><p>“Do you at least acknowledge that we have a right to fight back against being changed?” Hardegin asked.</p><p>Sarah rubbed her spars together as she grit her teeth and groaned.  “This is feeling more like you’re doing Nazi intolerance than a Sarafan justification…  Okay, thinking that <b>I</b> might be headed to Nazi territory is a painful tearing, so fight as hard as you want but I’m not going to avoid being a bad influence.”</p><p>“I didn’t have enough information to know why human-based vampires seem intrinsically sadistic, but I had Ozker do some research,” Chixiksi said.</p><p>“The Melchiahim in Nadzeya are similar no matter which species their corpses were.  It was interesting to have to ask some of them about it,” Ozker said.  “It seems like they came to the conclusion that it didn’t matter.”</p><p>“Because of your influence, no doubt,” Kain said.  “Was your becoming Hylden something that Sarah caused?”</p><p>“I was mostly there before she arrived.  Needing to explain to her why I was sad about it, and her failure to completely comprehend… That was what cemented it.  I would have called myself a traitor instead of Hylden, but I haven’t lost everything about who I used to be, I am still the Heretic even though it doesn’t mean much now,” Ozker said.  “Even talking to Melchiahim outside of Nadzeya, it seems like they would have been organically drawn to a similar situation without me.  They are clan-proud more than vampire-proud, and they were already similar to the Hylden scientists with the exception of a few rules.”</p><p>Keturah took a deep breath before speaking.  “I am convinced that nurture and nature are more complex than what I was raised to believe.  Maybe that humans become more savage when they become vampires is something about humans that can be corrected.”</p><p>“Then how could Sarah try to correct her inherent defects and fail?” Finneas asked.</p><p>“Part of those ‘defects’ are because of where she grew up,” Archimedes said.  “I hate to ruin a reason why you agreed not to curse me, but maybe her Terran values are strong enough to overcome the desire to give in to dark urges.  This world is more savage from her unstretched perspective.  I don’t want to get a vempari source on exactly how the curse affected them after Ozker was imprisoned, but how does it affect Hylden?”</p><p>“It was before my time, but they used Hylden criminals as well as captured vempari for testing the bloodthirst.  They described the decline as faster, but less pronounced than what I’m seeing in most human-based vampires.  There was no direct mechanism on the brain structures that control moral fiber,” Chixiksi said.  “Melchiahim seem calm, so perhaps that is an active example of how it was for the test subjects before they were destroyed.”</p><p>Kain rubbed his temples.  “We have a right to exist how we see fit.  Sarah, I cannot kill you without breaking a loop, but I want you to stay away from all vampires except for the ones living in Nadzeya.  I feel that they are a lost cause and I want to see the full extent of the damage.  If you do not keep yourself contained, I will find an unpleasant way to do it for you.”</p><p>“That’s actually pretty fair,” Sarah said, “but what happens if a visitor wants to talk to me?”</p><p>Lorica asked, “What are you getting at?”</p><p>Sarah shrugged.  “Just trying to get a rule in place to avoid an argument if it comes up.  Though it would be pretty hilarious for me to have to try running for my life away from a vampire.”</p><p>Ozker said, “If she gives explicit warning about what may happen to them, do not punish her for indulging their desire to see her.”</p><p>As the meeting broke up, Archimedes signaled that he wanted to speak to Sarah in private.  “You did wrong.”</p><p>“It was senseless and needless, and I think I hurt you more than that innocent person,” Sarah said.  “I don’t expect forgiveness and there is no way to punish me enough for any of it.  I deserve more punishment than an army is capable of.”</p><p>“You let yourself get pulled in too many directions,” Archimedes said.  “Thank you for the lesson, now get out of my sight.”</p>
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